Page 28 - TURKRptOct19

Europe this year, nearly half have journeyed to a handful of Greek islands, United Nations data shows. More than a million migrants and refugees, many fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, arrived in the European Union in 2015. The number of monthly arrivals to Greece jumped in August to about 7,000, the highest in three years. Most are families from Afghanistan, Reuters quoted aid organisations as saying.
Italy’s Eni and France’s Total have teamed up to explore for natural gas at another block off Cyprus’ southern coast.
The pair have been licensed to develop Block 7, the government’s information agency reported on September 18. Each company will assume a 50% stake in the block, which lies adjacent to Block 4, where Eni and Total made the 129bn cubic metre Calypso discovery last year.
Total also signed a farm-in agreement to acquire interest from Eni in four other concessions in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the agency said. The French major will take 20%, 30% and 20% stakes in Blocks 2, 3 and 9 respectively, with Eni retaining interests of 80%, 50% and 60%. The remaining 20% in each of the three blocks is controlled by South Korea’s KOGAS. Total will also take a 40% position in Block 8, leaving Eni with 60%.
The agency did not disclose how much Total had paid Eni for these stakes, and neither company responded to a request by EurOil for more information on the farm-in deal and contractual terms at their blocks.
Eni and Total are dominating the search for offshore gas in Cyprus. With the new agreement, the pair now control seven of the 13 blocks the country has awarded to investors.
Other players include ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum, who in February reported the discovery of 114-226 bcm of gas. A consortium of Royal Dutch Shell, Israel’s Derek Drilling and Texas-based Nobel Energy also signed a production-sharing agreement (PSA) in June for the 2011 Aphrodite discovery, containing up to 170 bcm of gas. The group is preparing to file development plans, with Cypriot officials forecasting a 2025 project launch date.
Cyprus has short-term plans to import LNG, selecting a Chinese-led consortium in August to provide a floating storage and regasification (FSRU). But its longer-term ambition is to become a net exporter, delivering gas from its offshore fields to markets either via pipeline to Europe or in the form of LNG.
Turkey is aggressively disputing the right of the Greek Cypriots to claim all gas deposits found off the shores of Cyprus. It has sent drilling ships to exploration zones it is staking a claim to, and has also deployed warship escorts not far from the vicinity.
Five Western countries including Turkey and the US, are backing Libya’s state oil firm NOC as the sole legitimate authority for the country’s energy sector.
The move, announced in a joint statement released on September 22, came after the eastern Libyan parallel government allied to Khalifa Haftar last week set up a parallel board for a local unit of NOC. That was seen by diplomats as an attempt to break away from the Tripoli headquarters, Reuters said.
“For the sake of Libya’s political and economic stability, and the well-being of all its citizens we exclusively support the NOC,” the statement posted on the website of the US Embassy for Libya said
It was signed by the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the UAE and Turkey.
28 TURKEY Country Report October 2019 www.intellinews.com