FSRU: Morocco Picks Mohammedia for Potential Floating Gas Facility
Morocco has invited bids to perform a study for the upgrade of Mohammedia port near Casablanca to host a liquified natural gas (LNG) floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the Moroccan ports agency said on Tuesday.The deadline for bids has been set at Jan. 25, the agency said on its website.Energy minister Leila Benali last month said that her department was examining financial and gas supply details for a future FSRU that would guarantee all of Morocco’s gas needs.Algieria ended gas supplies to Morocco on Oct.
Heavy Crude Demand Boosts Mitsui Profits
Higher demand in low-sulphur heavy crude ahead of new rules on shipping fuel is helping to boost the profit of Mitsui & Co as the Greater Enfield project in Australia began production in August as scheduled, the Japanese trading house's CEO said on Thursday."The timely start of production of fine-quality low-sulphur heavy crude at the upstream project had also a ripple effect to our energy trading unit in Singapore," Mitsui Chief Executive Officer Tatsuo Yasunaga told an analyst meeting.A Mitsui…
SENER Names Álvaro Lorente as MD
Spanish engineering and technology group SENER has appointed Alvaro Lorente, former Operations Manager in the energy division as Managing Director.He graduated in Industrial Engineering from the Pontificia Comillas University (ICAI), majoring in Electrical Engineering, and joined SENER in 1991. Among other posts, he has been head of SENER's Mechanics Section, Operations Manager for Renewables, Power, Oil & Gas and International General Manager at SENER.He was also appointed General Manager of…
Sound Energy Starts Drilling Well in Eastern Morocco
Moroccan focused upstream gas company Sound Energy confirmed that the drilling at TE-10, the second well of a planned three exploration well campaign in Eastern Morocco, has commenced.The TE-10 well will test the North East Lakbir prospect in the Company's Greater Tendrara permit and is located approximately 25 kilometres to the northeast of the recently awarded Tendrara production concession.The well is designed to test both a material TAGI stratigraphic trap and a smaller TAGI structural closure.
Portugal, Morocco Seek Power Link
Portugal and Morocco will invite bids to build an undersea electricity cable linking the two countries after technical and financial feasibility studies are completed in early 2019, a senior Portuguese official said on Monday.Morocco and Portugal agreed in 2015 on plans for a 1,000 megawatt (MW) link. Feasibility studies were launched in 2016.Portuguese Secretary of State for Energy Joao Galamba told Reuters that the two governments aimed to issue the invitations to bid "immediately after the feasibility study""Both governments are strongly committed to this project…
Morocco Preparing Tender for $4.5 bln LNG Project
Morocco is preparing to invite bids for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Jorf Lasfar worth $4.5 billion, Energy Minister Aziz Rabbah said on Monday.Speaking on the sidelines of an energy conference in Marrakesh, he declined to give details.Last year, Moroccan state-owned power utility ONEE said it had picked HSBC Middle East Ltd as financial adviser for its plan to boost imports of LNG.The project includes the import of up to 7 billion cubic metres of gas by 2025, and the construction of a jetty, terminal, pipelines and gas-fired power plants, officials have said.Morocco, a net energy importer, aims to di
Sound Energy to Build Pipeline to Commercialize Moroccan Gas
Britain's Sound Energy has signed a heads of terms agreement with a consortium to build a 20 inch gas pipeline and a processing plant to commercialize its discoveries in Eastern Morocco, it said.The consortium comprising Spain's Enagas, Elecnor and Fomento has been awarded the deal under a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) structure, the Morocco-focused company said."The Consortium will finalise plans to secure access to some $184 million of development capital that will be required to fund the project," it said in a statement.Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi Editing by Ulf Laessing
Cyprus Accuses Turkey of Blocking Drillship Again
Cyprus accused Turkey on Friday of threatening to use force against a drillship chartered by Italy's Eni, in a standoff over hydrocarbons rights in the eastern Mediterranean. There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, which has vowed to prevent Greek Cypriots from exploring for oil or gas around the ethnically-split island and says some areas of Cyprus's offshore maritime zone fall under its jurisdiction. On Feb. 9, the Turkish navy on manoeuvres in the Mediterranean stopped the Saipem 12000 vessel on its way to drill for gas in the waters off Cyprus…
Eni Mulls Drilling Ship Move off Cyprus - CEO
Italian oil major Eni will probably move a drilling ship that has been blocked by the Turkish navy off Cyprus but will not pull out of its project in the country, the group's CEO said on Thursday. "It should be going to Morocco," Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi said during a company event near Milan, when asked what the next location of the ship could be. Reporting by Giancarlo Navach
Congo Seeks Debt Relief From Trading Houses
IMF pushing Congo to renegotiate debt; loans primarily came from Trafigura, Glencore. Congo Republic is set to become the latest African country to start debt relief talks with trading houses after borrowing $2 billion from merchants such as Trafigura and Glencore but now finding its debt levels unsustainable, sources familiar with the matter said. Trading houses regularly lend money to resource-rich clients in financial distress - be it countries such as Congo, Chad, Morocco or Iraq's Kurdistan region - when other lenders walk away.
Energy Leaders Gather for the IEA Ministerial Meeting
Ministers and top government officials from the International Energy Agency’s 29 member countries, seven Association countries – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Singapore and Thailand – and other partners, as well as more than 30 CEOs from across the energy spectrum, met in Paris this week for the IEA’s 2017 Ministerial Meeting. Held under the chairmanship of Ibrahim Baylan, Sweden’s Minister for Policy Coordination and Energy, the meeting highlighted the IEA’s role as the world’s leading energy authority and a global hub for clean energy.
French Wind Power Sector to Consolidate Further -EDF
France's wind power generation sector will consolidate further, the head EDF's renewables unit Antoine Cahuzac said on Wednesday as the company moves to complete the takeover of wind energy developer Futuren . The renewables subsidiary of the French state-controlled utility has acquired 67.2 percent of Futuren, and will on Thursday launch a public offer for the remaining shares in a deal worth 320 million euros ($363 million). "The consolidation will not end here," Cahuzac, Chief Executive of EDF Energies Nouvelles, told reporters.
Total Looks at Downstream to Spur Gas Demand
France's Total SA is looking to invest in gas and power infrastructure projects in Morocco and South Africa as it seeks to open new markets, the company's head of gas said on Thursday. Total will roughly double its liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio by 2020 to 15 million tonnes per year, but the company needs to look at deals that will give it footholds in new markets and capture new gas buyers, Laurent Vivier said. Morocco plans to build a project, worth up to $4.6 billion, which includes the import of up to 7 billion cubic metres of gas by 2025…
Qatar Restarts Huge Gas Field Development
Qatar has lifted a self-imposed moratorium on development of the world's biggest natural gas field, the chief executive of Qatar Petroleum said on Monday, as the world's top LNG exporter looks to see off an expected rise in competition. Qatar declared a moratorium in 2005 on the development of the North Field, which it shares with Iran, to give Doha time to study the impact on the reservoir from a rapid rise in output. The vast offshore gas field, which Doha calls the North Field and Iran calls South Pars, accounts for nearly all of Qatar's gas production and around 60 percent of its export revenue.
Sound Energy Commences Drilling at TE-8 Tendrara
Sound Energy, the African and European focused upstream gas company confirmed the commencement of drilling at the third Tendrara well, onshore Morocco. Following the recent success at the Company's first two Tendrara wells (TE-6 and TE-7), the Company's third well (TE-8) was spud on 19 February 2017. The TE-8 well is a step out appraisal well some 12 kilometres to the Northeast of TE-7 with the objective of proving up significant additional volumes in the TAGI (Trias Argilo-Gréseux Inférieur) reservoir whilst also, for the first time, drilling deeper into the Paleozoic formation.
Qatar Petroleum Seeks International Projects in Cyprus, Morocco
State-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum (QP) is exploring oil and gas in Morocco and Cyprus as it aims to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets abroad while trimming costs at home, chief executive Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday. "You will see us going internationally with some of the partners we have in Qatar, this year and next year... We are in growth mode," Kaabi told reporters at the company's headquarters in Doha. QP, the world's largest LNG producer, has been pursuing deals in Cyprus where it "won a bid for 40 percent of a plot for exploration" and recently "went into Morocco for exploration"…
EcoGas efficiency proved by gas-fueled KAMAZ
The Africa Eco Race 2017 concluded in Senegal on January 14, 2017. The gas-fueled KAMAZ led by Sergey Kupriyanov finished among the top ten in the final standings. The 6,500-kilometer rally consisted of 12 stages. The timed sections such as the rocky plateaus of Morocco, the sands of Mauritania, and the savannas of Senegal made up most of the route, namely 3,800 kilometers. Far from every one of the 52 participating vehicles managed to cross the finish line, but the gas-fueled KAMAZ proved up to the challenge. It was the third African rally for the crew led by Sergey Kupriyanov.
Sound Energy Gets Sidi Moktar Regulatory Approvals
Sound Energy, the African and European focused upstream gas company is in receipt of the regulatory approval for the transfer to the Company of the 75% operated interest in the Sidi Moktar licences, onshore Morocco (the "Acquisitions"). The terms of the Acquisitions were announced by Sound Energy on 14 January 2016, 10 March 2016 and 23 September 2016 respectively. The Sidi Moktar licences consist of three onshore gas permits (the "Sidi Moktar Licences") covering 2,700 square kilometres in the Essaouira basin…
BP Loses $68 mln Court Ruling Over Morocco Oil Cargo
BP must pay more than $68 million to the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), a UK court has ruled, in a case stemming from the surprise closure of Morocco's Samir refinery in 2015. The British energy company sold a cargo of Russian Urals crude to Samir in August 2014 which was not paid for and NBAD took on 95 percent of that debt. The London High Court ruled that BP did not have the right to pass on the debt. It said the contract between BP and Samir stipulated that there could be no assignment of obligations or rights without reasonable consent and that Samir's consent had not been obtained.
Climate-threatened Nations Aim for 100% Renewable Energy
A group of the countries most at risk from climate change said they would strive to make their energy production 100 percent renewable "as rapidly as possible", as part of efforts to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), which numbers 48 nations, also committed to update their climate action plans submitted as part of the U.N. climate pact agreed in Paris last year and prepare low-carbon development strategies for mid-century, both before 2020.
