Anglo-Turkish company discovers new oil in KRG

Hurriyet Daily News

Genel Energy, Anglo-Turkish oil and gas independent, has announced that it has discovered new commercial oil reserves in northern Iraq.

In a written statement yesterday, Genel Energy confirmed the existence of a commercial oil discovery in the Ber Bahr 1 exploration well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG).

“The Ber Bahr well adds a further commercial oil discovery to Genel’s already significant KRI resource base,” the statement said. The company plans to begin a phased development of the field in the second half of this year. Genel Energy holds a 40 percent working interest in Ber Bahr. Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd holds a 40 percent working interest and the KRG holds the remaining 20 percent interest.

Genel Energy now operates in seven sites in the KRG, including Chia Surkh, Dohuk, Miran, Bina Bawi, Taq Taq, and Kewa Chirmila. However, there is a long-running dispute between the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous KRG over how to develop the country’s resources.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/anglo-turkish-company-discovers-new-oil-in-krg.aspx?pageID=238&nID=47921&NewsCatID=348

Turkey to begin negotiations on gas supplies from Turkmenistan

Trend

A framework agreement on cooperation for the supply of natural gas from Turkmenistan to Turkey can be called an illustrative result of the talks between the presidents of Turkmenistan and Turkey, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Abdullah Gul, who is on a state visit to Ashgabat.

Ankara periodically expresses its interest in the delivery of Caspian energy to Europe through Turkey, and the issue has been on the agenda since the mid nineties.

It is necessary to lay a 300-km pipeline under the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan for the delivery of Turkmen resources to Europe. From there, the fuel reaches Turkey, which shares borders with Europe. The Trans-Caspian project could become a part of several large-scale projects such as Nabucco, AGRI and TANAP in which Ankara takes an active part.

The Trans-Caspian project at this stage is considered by experts as the most optimal way to deliver Turkmen gas to Europe.

Official Ashgabat believes that the consent of the parties, territories of which are covered by the project (Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan), is sufficient for laying the pipe under the Caspian Sea.

Baku has expressed readiness to provide its territory, transit opportunities and infrastructure for its implementation, as reported by the representatives of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).

Source:  http://en.trend.az/capital/energy/2156037.html

Turkish Parliament opens way to oil market liberalization

Hurriyet Daily News

A petroleum market draft code has passed into law in General Assembly of the Parliament despite the opposition’s outcry over the measures which diminishes the role of state-owned TPAO in the market.

The Turkish Parliament’s General Assembly has approved a draft code on the petroleum market that comprises regulations to boost the dynamism in the sector by easing the circumstances for private actors and to end rentiers in the sector.

The new law, which is designed to regulate oil exploration and production operations in compliance with the country’s energy policies has passed into law late on May 29.

The government says the new regulations would liberalize the sector significantly.

But opposing groups say that it would leave the state-run Turkish Petroleum Company (TPAO) in a weaker position.

During the discussion of the draft in Parliament, one of the main opposition Republican People’s Party deputies attacked the draft, blaming the government for “not thinking to make exploration and production more efficient and rather seeking ways to please foreign capital.”

Sudan and Turkey to cooperate in energy

Hurriyet Daily News

Sudan and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding in the areas of mining, power generation and hydrocarbons, during Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız’s visit to the African country.

Yıldız said May 26 that they would encourage private sector players active in the energy sector – particularly in wind, solar and hydroelectric power – to invest in Sudan.

“We’d like to benefit from Turkey’s experience in industry, mining and transportation,” said Kemal Abdullatif, the Sudanese minister of mining. Also, Sudanese Electricity and Water Resources Minister Tabita Butros Shokia said they could cooperate with Turkey in wind, solar and nuclear energy.

Turkey and Sudan are set to cooperate in mining, hydrocarbons and electricity generation, particularly renewable energy, in accordance with the deals signed by Yıldız, Abdullatif and Shokia, following negotiations between technical delegations.

Yıldız said Turkey would assist with Sudan’s master power generation plan if help was requested. The minister also had talks about possible investment by the Turkish private sector to build a hydroelectric power station on the coast of the Nile river.

Turkey may buy ‘2 mln tons of Yemen LNG’

European energy exchanges compete for Turkish growth

Reuters


European energy exchanges ICE Endex and EEX are competing for a slice of Turkey's booming power market as the country prepares to open its first electricity exchange, executives from the companies said on Tuesday.

Turkey, with $60 billion of annual energy imports, is liberalising its energy market and plans to open an electricity exchange by October to increase liquidity and become a leading trading hub between Europe and the east.

Expected growth in Turkey's energy demand is second only to China, making the country a favourite investment market among European energy companies hit by stalling growth in their core markets.

"We're looking at Turkey with interest as a new business opportunity," said Wouter de Klein, commercial director at ICE Endex, on the sidelines of the EMART Turkey energy conference.

"We would be interested in participating in further developing the energy trading markets in Turkey and to work together with the relevant Turkish authorities in doing so."

ICE Endex is a new European power and gas trading platform launched by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) this year to increase its presence in Europe's mature energy markets.

Germany-based rival EEX has already signed an agreement with Turkey's transmission system operator TEIAS to cooperate on the creation of Turkey's energy exchange.

Russian gas pipeline could doom Europe's Nabucco plan

Reuters


* Europe, U.S. support for Nabucco weakened
* Azeri consortium expected to pick winner in June
* Gas due to flow to European Union from 2019

Europe's grand plan for a gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea that would make its eastern states less reliant on Russia may have been fatally undermined by Russia's even bigger project.

As Azerbaijan nears a decision on which pipeline to choose for its future exports, the Nabucco plan that was long the European Union favourite could lose out to the more modest Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) across Greece to southern Italy.

In a complex equation based on politics as much as economics, TAP is in the ascendancy over the Nabucco pipeline to Austria in the face of Russia's $39 billion South Stream plan.

"The question is: 'Is Nabucco viable if South Stream is built?'" said Andrew Neff, Moscow-based principal energy analyst with research firm IHS.

The decision between TAP and Nabucco is expected in June from partners in the Shah Deniz consortium, led by gas field operator BP and Azeri state energy company Socar.

The European Union won't have a direct say in the choice, but its recent switch to "project neutrality" from support for Nabucco could make a big difference. It now says it would be happy with either pipeline or even both.

"There has been a dramatic shift," TAP's External Affairs Director Michael Hoffmann told Reuters.

Nabucco spokesman Christian Dolezal, however, said his project retained strong political support.

Turkey offers pipelines to Cyprus, Israel, Iraq

Hurriyet Daily News

Israeli and Greek Cypriot officials and representatives of Turkish Cyprus all agree on the reality that natural gas produced in the eastern Mediterranean will get its utmost feasibility by a pipeline passing through Turkey, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız tells the Daily News

Energy-hungry Turkey has offered to cooperate with its oil and gas-rich southern neighbors for the exploration and transportation of their hydrocarbon products to world markets via Turkey. It has particularly called out to Israel and Cyprus, which recently had problems over the legality of the licenses issued for petroleum exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. 
“Israeli officials, local officials in Greek Cyprus and representatives of the TRNC [Turkish Republic of the Northern Cyprus], they have all agreed on one reality: The natural gas to be produced from this region will get its utmost feasibility by a pipeline that will pass through Turkey. All relevant figures prove this idea,” Energy Minister Taner Yıldız told the Hürriyet Daily News in a comprehensive interview outlining the Turkish government’s energy policies regarding oil and gas reserves of its southern neighbors.

Yıldız held substantial meetings with acting Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman and U.S. President Barack Obama’s special envoy for energy issues Carlos Pascual last week in Washington. The meetings were crucially important as the two allies found themselves on opposite sides on a number of issues related to Baghdad-Ankara tension over the latter’s growing interest in making deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government and to the Turkey-Cyprus quarrel over the Greek Cypriot government’s ambitious moves for oil exploration in the disputed areas of the Mediterranean.

Azerbaijan crucial for Greece to escape economic crisis

Today's Zaman    Lamiya Adılgızı

Greece’s growing interest in the energy resources of Azerbaijan, an oil-booming country on the shores of the Caspian Sea, is down to the belief Azerbaijan’s natural gas could rescue the country from the economic crisis it has been going through if Azerbaijan agrees to export its natural gas through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP), rather than its competitor Nabucco West.

 

Both pipelines fully depend on the same source of gas, Shah Deniz II gas field in Azerbaijan, and will start at the western coast of Turkey and convey the Azeri gas transported via the Turkey-Azerbaijan initiated Trans-Anatolia Pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey to EU markets.

“Greece considers TAP as a good opportunity to recover from its economic crisis and become a strategic energy terminal in the region. In order to materialize its ambition, Athens will try hard to persuade Baku to export TANAP gas through TAP, rather than the Nabucco-West option,” Emre İşeri, energy and security analyst at the İstanbul-based Kadir Has University, said in an interview with Sunday’s Zaman.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras paid a visit to Azerbaijan this week on his way back from China, a month after Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos made a trip to the capital city of Baku for official talks on enhancing cooperation with Baku. The visit by Samaras has attracted a great deal of attention as it is the second high-ranking trip by Greece in a month.

Being received by Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev in Baku on May 20, both leaders had an opportunity to discuss boosting political, economic and cultural ties. The leaders’ tete-a-tete meeting, which reportedly mainly focused on important opportunities to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, especially in the field of energy, was described by Samara’s as “positive” while briefing Greek President Karolos Papoulias on May 21.

Kurdish crude sales to rise as exports reach second Turkish port

Reuters          Julia Payne and Peg Mackey


* Taq Taq crude exports to reach about 60,000 bpd by end June
* Kurdistan to start deliveries to second terminal in Turkey
* Crude in steady stream to Northern Europe


Iraqi Kurdistan's crude oil sales to world markets, deemed illegal by Baghdad, are set to rise by nearly 50 percent next month as trucks start deliveries to a second export terminal in Turkey, industry sources in the region said on Wednesday.

Crude exports from the Taq Taq oilfield in the autonomous northern region to Turkey's Mersin port started at a trickle in early January and have risen to just over 40,000 barrels per day (bpd).

They are expected to hit around 60,000 bpd by the end of June as trucks unload at the neighbouring Dortyol terminal in southern Turkey.

Oil lies at the heart of a feud between the central government and Kurdistan. Baghdad says it alone has the right to control exports and sign deals, while the Kurds say their right to do so is enshrined in Iraq's federal constitution.

In retaliation, Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) sent letters warning customers not to touch any oil that had not been marketed by SOMO and the ministry intends to sue producers, namely Anglo-Turkish firm Genel Energy.

Turkey eyes oil, gas deals with Iraqi Kurdistan

Reuters


Turkey is looking to sign commercial contracts this year with Russian and U.S. companies operating in northern Iraq for joint oil and gas exploration, Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan last week discussed U.S. concerns about Turkey's deepening energy ties with Iraqi Kurdistan during meetings in Washington with President Barack Obama.


Minutes before his departure for Washington, Erdogan announced that a Turkish company already had a contract in place with U.S. energy company Exxon Mobil but declined to provide details until after the visit.
Yildiz, who was in Erdogan's delegation, said the discussions with Obama and his team were very positive and fruitful.

"We are likely to be involved with Russian and American companies in northern Iraq for different projects like oil and gas exploration. And this year, state-owned and private companies could sign commercial contracts with northern Iraq," he said in an interview.

He declined to name companies.

Exxon was the first to sign up for exploration deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Others including Chevron, Total and Russia's Gazprom Neft have followed.