Egyptian offshore Gas Discovery may spoil Israeli Gas Bonanza

nsnbc : The discovery of a major gas field off the coast of Egypt may spoil Israeli plans to become a major exporter of natural gas to Egypt before Israeli – Egyptian gas deals can be signed.

On Sunday the Italian energy giant ENI disclosed the discovery of the Mediterranean’s biggest ever and the world’s 20th largest gas discovery off the coast of Egypt.

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The newly discovered gas reserves, containing an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas have been found in the Zohr Field holding.

The Zohr discovery does not only raises questions about the prospects of planned Israeli gas export deals to Egypt. The discovery significantly reduces Egypt’s dependency on the import of gas in general.

Shares of the U.S.-based Noble Energy, the company that is developing Israel’s biggest gas field, the Leviathan field, fell 7.1 percent at $32.08 in New York.

The new discovery may cost Israel’s leading energy companies, including the Delek Group, Anver Oil and Ratio dearly as the companies saw some 4.5 billion shekels, equivalent to some $1.14 billion loss of market capitalization on Monday.

The Zohr field accounts for about 40 % of Egypt’s proven gas reserves. Some analysts concluded that the reserves could be even far greater than estimated after the recent discovery.

The Cairo-based Pharos Research announced on Monday that “Accordingly, we expect significant capacity expansion plans to be reviewed over the coming 6-12 months and expect foreign direct investment to recover sharply”.

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Youm7

The disclosure of the new gas reserves has arguably had a positive impact on Egypt’s EGX. On Monday the benchmark index EGX30 added 2.79 percent to end at 7,252 points, up from 7,055 points in the last session, reports The Cairo Post.

Similarly, the small and mid-cap index EGX70 rose 1.68 percent to end at 392.4 points, compared to 385.89 points on Sunday.

The broader index EGX100 also increased 1.72 percent to close at 837.7 points, after 823.56 points on Sunday’s session.

Market capitalization gained around 6.8 billion EGP ($868 million,) totaling 444.73 billion EGP.

The new discovery can according to some analysts bolster Egypt’s geopolitical situation and contribute to Egypt’s economic and political recovery after the turmoil that has plagued the country since the so-called Arab Spring in 2011.

On the other hand; Egypt is currently combating a foreign-backed insurgency in Egypt’s North Sinai province and insurgents along the Egyptian – Libyan border.

nsnbc associated analysts noted that the recent discovery of gas reserves also may prompt Qatar, Israel, and to some degree Turkey to upscale their support of insurgents, including the ISIS / ISIL as well as Muslim Brotherhood – linked Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis in Egypt.

CH/ L – nsnbc 01.09.2015

Related articles:

Israel Emerging as a Giant Energy Player
War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields
Egypt’s Min. of Petroleum defines 3 conditions to Israeli gas import
Russian Gazprom to pen Gas Deal with Egypt
Egypt’s RASHPETCO intensifies operations to meet local demand on natural gas

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2015/09/01/egyptian-offshore-gas-discovery-may-spoil-israeli-gas-bonanza-2/

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