Noble Energy works to assure investors after Egypt’s huge find

“Eni says that the Zohr field has the potential to become one of the world’s largest natural-gas finds” and help meet Egypt’s gas needs for decades.

Despite the minister’s comments, Western oil companies operating in Egypt negotiating gas import deals with Israeli counterparts will have to decide for themselves whether recent finds in Egypt alter the equation.

Gas output in Egypt has been declining since 2011 as the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s rule curtailed investments in exploration and production. The newest discovery does not mean this will be achieved any sooner, he said.

“It is our determination that we should develop cooperation at all levels”.

President Anastasiades said “we are witnesses to a robust bilateral relationship without precedent, which can be enhanced even further”.

The discovery of the Zohr natural gas field off Egypt will not undermine private-sector negotiations about buying gas from Israel, Egypt’s petroleum minister said.

A potential boost in natural gas supply from Iran and Egypt may exacerbate a worldwide glut, reshape the global market and threaten USA export ambitions, according to Citigroup Inc.

Presenting her credentials, Israel’s Ambassador Ravia-Zadok, a long-term director of the Middle East Desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem said Cyprus’ unique location in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as its respected political leadership, may serve as a fertile ground to establishing a network of regional cooperation, in which Israel and Cyprus may play a leading role.

In his response, President Anastasiades said that his visit to Israel and the follow-up visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu here in Nicosia, later in July, “reflect the special bond between our two countries”. The company is open to selling a stake in the “supergiant” Zohr gas, its chief executive said, as the state-controlled energy company looks for funds to bankroll development without sacrificing dividends.

Around 75 percent of the 30 tcf of gas in the new field is likely recoverable given it’s “good quality” and this would bring Egypt’s total natural gas reserves to an estimated 90 tcf, the minister said. The government is currently struggling to get parliament to approve its natural gas business plan, but observers fear Israel may need to reassess everything now that Egypt, which had been cast as both an export destination and a partner, may have found its own independent solution.

For Egypt, the Zohr field offers hope in the country’s battle with chronic, politically sensitive energy shortages. There’s more from the Cyprus Mail online, “Our View: Time for a new outlandish gas plan?”

Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said that a delegation of the British BG Group arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday for consultations with the consortium developing Aphrodite gas field and Cyprus’s state Hydrocarbons Company for the transfer of natural gas to the Idku liquefaction terminal. Iran just declared its South Pars gas field fully operational; discovered in 1990, it is the second-largest gas field globally, Citi reports.