Page 5 - AfrOil Week 50 2019

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil
 For its part, Cyprus’ Foreign Ministry com- mented on November 29: “Such a delimitation, if done, would constitute a serious violation of international law. It would be contrary to the recognised principle of the convention on the law of the sea and the rights of islands’ EEZ. With the distortion of the law of the sea and the counterfeiting of geography, Turkey will gain no footing in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
EU reactions
The EU has expressed concern but has yet to make a decision on further action.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said on December 9 that some EU countries were worried by the controversial maritime border agreement. “It’s clear that it is problematic. It poses major concerns to certain member states, inparticularGreeceandCyprus,”hetoldreport- ers after chairing a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels.
He also stressed, though, that the EU would continue studying the deal before deciding whether to take action.
Meanwhile, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok commented: “The Netherlands is always a staunch supporter of the rule of international law, and we side with Greece.” He added: “Inter- national law should be upheld.”
Similarly, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexan- der Schallenberg said: “it’s a little bit astounding how they [Turkey and Libya] split up the Med- iterranean among themselves. We’ll have to see how we deal with it.”
Energy aspects
The maritime agreement is partly rooted in geo- political issues, such as Turkey’s desire to assert its dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean.
It also stems from Libya’s ongoing domes- tic political turmoil, in that it follows Turkey’s efforts to provide support to the Government of National Accord (GNA) in its fight against the Libyan National Army (LNA), a separatist group led by Khalida Haftar. The LNA already holds
most of eastern Libya and has waged assaults on Tripoli, the home base of the GNA.
But the accord also appears to have a great deal to do with oil and gas. As noted above, it fol- lows disputes over Turkish drilling operations at offshore sites claimed by Cyprus. Egypt has also voiced concern at what the deal between Turkey and Libya could mean for oil and gas drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey’s stance
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated directly that the agreement could affect work in the region.
On December 9, he told state broadcaster TRT Haber that the document provided for Turkey and Libya to carry out joint exploration operations in the eastern Mediterranean. He alsoassertedthattheagreementwasinlinewith international law.
Additionally, Erdogan said Turkey intended to procure a new drilling ship to continue activ- ities in the eastern Mediterranean, adding to its existing fleet of two such vessels. He further claimed that Ankara might expand its offshore campaigns operations into the Black Sea or international waters.
The Turkish leader also indicated that his government had been responding to the sign- ing of maritime agreements between Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and Greece, all of which are eager to establish their own EEZs in the Eastern Med- iterranean and move forward with their own exploration programmes. He said explicitly that he would oppose attempts by these countries to drill or build pipelines, including the proposed EastMed link, in the areas claimed by Turkey and Libya.
“Other international actors cannot conduct exploration activities in the areas marked in the [Turkish-Libyan] memorandum. Greek Cypri- ots, Egypt, Greece and Israel cannot establish a natural gas transmission line without Turkey’s consent,” he was quoted as saying by TRT World, a state-owned Turkish news outlet.™
“ that the maritime
Erdogan has said
agreement provides for Turkey and Libya to carry out joint exploration operations in the eastern Mediterranean
INVESTMENT
NNPC, partners sign FEED contract for condensate refinery project
NIGERIA
STATE-OWNED Nigerian National Petro- leum Corp. (NNPC) and two private Nigerian companies signed a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for a new downstream project at the weekend.
According to Nigerian press reports, the contract provides for the US-based engineering firm KBR and NNPC’s engineering subsidiary NETCO to provide FEED services for the pro- ject, which envisions the construction of a gas condensate-processing plant.
The facility would be the first of its kind in the country.
As of press time, NNPC and its partners, Seplat Petroleum Development and Borkir International, had not disclosed the value of the contract. They have indicated, though, that they are hoping to execute the deal quickly.
Mele Kyari, NNPC’s group managing direc- tor, said at a ceremony marking the signing of the contract that he expected KBR and NETCO to finish the FEED work by June of next year.
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