Egypt 'doesn't mind' Israeli gas

A week after Reuters broke the news of talks between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the American Noble Energy Company, which operates Israeli gas fields, the Ministry of Petroleum appears to publicly support a new policy that would allow the importation of Israeli gas.

In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel. Despite full diplomatic relations, official niceties and, many years later, US-encouraged commercial and business agreements between the two former enemies, normalisation with Israel remained taboo and was rejected by the wider public.
So when former president Hosni Mubarak approved a 20-year agreement to export Egyptian gas to Israel in 2005 it caused a political uproar that continued until his ouster in February 2011.

Not only was Egypt pumping natural gas directly to Israel, it was doing so at below-market prices through East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), then co-owned by Mubarak 's friend Hussein Salem and former Israeli Mossad agent Yossi Maiman, who then sold the gas to Israel at higher rates, pocketing the difference.

In the aftermath of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011, Egypt unilaterally terminated this agreement, citing failures by the Israeli side to meet payment deadlines in violation of the contract.

The decision was met with relief and a sense of revolutionary achievement, but things did not end there. When Mubarak was referred for trial in 2011, the gas deal was added to the corruption charges (a Cairo court dismissed the charges three months ago because the charges were too old to fall within its jurisdiction.)

More than four years later, Egyptian officials are negotiating a reversal of the gas deal through the very same pipeline that exported the gas to Israel, according to Reuters and official statements attributed to top-level officials in the ministry of petroleum......................http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/122969.aspx
13/2/15
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Related:

• Egypt advances plans to import Israeli gas 

• Israel's Tamar gas field to sell gas to Egypt 

• Israel signs 15-year natural gas deal with Jordan 

• Egypt says not interested in Israeli gas as plans LNG imports...

• Cyprus to build gas plant with or without Israel.....

• Israel, Jordan, Palestinians to sign Red Sea-Dead Sea deal

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• CNN: Η Κύπρος δεν μπορεί να υποστηρίξει τερματικό. -Θα ήταν βιώσιμο αν η Κύπρος προχωρούσε σε συμφωνία με το Ισραήλ

Egypt advances plans to import Israeli gas

CAIRO - A delegation from American oil firm Noble Energy is in Egypt for talks with the state gas company about importing Israeli gas to energy-starved Egypt, sources at the airport and the oil ministry said on Sunday.

Gas shipments could come from Israel's offshore Tamar gas field, which Noble operates, and whose partners have floated plans to connect the field with Egypt's Damietta LNG plant.

Israel's Delek Drilling, one of the partners in the field, said in November that if an agreement is signed, gas supplies to Egypt could start flowing in 2017.

Egypt has signed several deals in past months to import natural gas, which powers most of its homes and factories, but imports from Israel are potentially more sensitive because of the countries' rocky history.

The oil ministry source said Sunday's talks concerned the technical procedures for bringing natural gas from Israeli fields into Egypt.

"Negotiations are under way about the amount of gas that can be imported," the source said.

Another source at Cairo's airport earlier in the day said that a delegation came for several hours from Israel to discuss gas shipments.

Egypt's oil minister said two weeks ago that the country was open to Israeli imports.

Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, following three decades of intermittent conflict since Israel's creation in 1948.

While many Egyptians still view Israel with suspicion, relations have improved since the army toppled President Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist, in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

The two countries also have a shared interest in containing Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and maintaining stability in the Sinai Peninsula where security has deteriorated since Morsi's ouster.

• Egypt, which once exported gas to Israel and elsewhere, is going through its worst energy crisis in decades, with rising consumption and declining production turning it into an energy importer.

• The government has tried to improve the energy landscape by slashing subsidies, paying down its debt to foreign energy firms, and negotiating import agreements.

After finalizing a long-delayed deal for an LNG import terminal, it has reached agreements to receive gas from Algeria, and is in talks with Russia and Cyprus for gas shipments. 
 http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Egypt-advances-plans-to-import-Israeli-gas-389661
1/2/15
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• Israel's Tamar gas field to sell gas to Egypt 

• Israel signs 15-year natural gas deal with Jordan 

• Egypt says not interested in Israeli gas as plans LNG imports...

• Cyprus to build gas plant with or without Israel.....

• Israel, Jordan, Palestinians to sign Red Sea-Dead Sea deal

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• CNN: Η Κύπρος δεν μπορεί να υποστηρίξει τερματικό. -Θα ήταν βιώσιμο αν η Κύπρος προχωρούσε σε συμφωνία με το Ισραήλ

Cypriot EEZ: Cyprus warns Turkey against any new energy moves

Cyprus warned Turkey Friday that if it re-entered the exclusive economic zone where Nicosia has licensed exploratory drilling there would be no chance of resuming stalled UN-brokered peace talks.
Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said any such a move would be a "worrying development" and would only "validate the reason for not returning to the talks".

Last October, a Turkish ship encroached on Cyprus's EEZ off its south coast, after Ankara had given notice that a Turkish seismic vessel would carry out a survey in the same area where Italian-Korean energy consortium ENI-Kogas is operating.

In response, Cyprus suspended its participation in UN-led peace talks launched in February.

Warning against another incident, Christodoulides told the Cyprus News Agency on Friday: "While knowing such an action would not allow for talks to resume, it will unfortunately send the international community a negative message regarding the possibility of a resumption of talks."

Turkish Cypriot media reports say that Turkey is ready to issue a new maritime notice for its survey ship Barbaros from January 5.

Nicosia is unhappy that Ankara is determined to search for oil and gas in the same region where it has already licensed exploratory drillings.

Turkey opposes the government's exploitation of offshore energy reserves before a deal is reached to solve the decades-long division of the east Mediterranean island.

Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting it with Greece.

ENI-Kogas began drilling off Cyprus for possible gas in September in a second block to undergo exploratory tests.

It found no evidence of gas reserves in its first test drill and is preparing to try again over the next three months.

In 2011, US firm Noble Energy made the first find in the Aphrodite field, which is estimated to contain 102 billion to 170 billion cubic metres (3.6 trillion to six trillion cubic feet) of gas.
  AFP - http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/119338.aspx
  2/1/15
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• Νταβούτογλου: «Ισα δικαιώματα για το αέριο στους Τουρκοκύπριους εδώ και τώρα»

• Κύπρος: Προχωρούν κανονικά οι γεωτρήσεις της ENI - KOGAS

Israel's Tamar gas field to sell gas to Egypt

The partners in Israel's Tamar gas field announced on Sunday they have signed a bid to sell at least five billion cubic meters of natural gas over three years to private consumers in Egypt.

The Tamar partners, led by Texas-based Noble Energy and the Israeli Delek Group, said in a statement that they have signed a letter of intent with Dolphinus Holdings, a consortium of industrial and commercial gas consumers and distributors in Egypt.

The partners said the gas will be sold based on Brent crude oil prices, with estimated revenue of about 700 million US dollars per year.

The gas would be transferred via an old pipeline in Sinai peninsula that was built nearly a decade ago to carry gas from Egypt to Israel. However, gas flow ceased in 2012 given the ousting of the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and repeated sabotages by Sinai militants.

• Earlier on May 5, the Tamar partners planned to transfer one- fifth of their gas in 15 years to Egypt for liquefaction and then exporting abroad.

A few weeks later, the partners in the Leviathan gas field, a consortium also led by Noble Energy and Delek Group, signed a letter of intent to sell seven billion cubic meters to British Gas in Egypt.

Discovered in 2009 off Israel's northern city of Haifa, the Tamar field is believed to contain about 223 billion cubic meters of gas. Production there began in March 2013.

In February, Israel became a gas exporter for the first time when Tamar's partners signed a deal to supply 500 million US dollars worth of gas to two Jordanian companies.
Source:Xinhua -  globaltimes.cn
20/10/14
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Related:

• Israel signs 15-year natural gas deal with Jordan 

• Egypt says not interested in Israeli gas as plans LNG imports...

• Cyprus to build gas plant with or without Israel.....

• Israel, Jordan, Palestinians to sign Red Sea-Dead Sea deal

 ---

• CNN: Η Κύπρος δεν μπορεί να υποστηρίξει τερματικό. -Θα ήταν βιώσιμο αν η Κύπρος προχωρούσε σε συμφωνία με το Ισραήλ

Water quality excellent at most of Europe’s bathing sites

European Commission, Press release, Brussels, 27 May 2014:

The water at Europe’s beaches, rivers and lakes was generally of high quality in 2013, with more than 95 % of these sites meeting minimum requirements. Coastal performed slightly better than inland bathing waters, the data shows.

All the bathing sites in Cyprus and Luxembourg were deemed ‘excellent’. These countries were followed by Malta (99 % excellent), Croatia (95 %) and Greece (93 %). At the other end of the scale, European Union Member States with the highest proportion of sites with a ‘poor’ status were Estonia (6 %), the Netherlands (5 %), Belgium (4 %), France (3 %), Spain (3 %) and Ireland (3 %).

 

The annual bathing water quality report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) tracks the water quality at 22 000 bathing sites across the EU, Switzerland and, for the first time, Albania. Alongside the report, the EEA has published an interactive map showing how each bathing site performed in 2013.

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "It's good that the quality of European bathing waters continues to be of a high standard. But we cannot afford to be complacent with such a precious resource as water. We must continue to ensure that our bathing and drinking water as well as our aquatic ecosystems are fully protected." 

Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director, said: “Europe’s bathing water has improved over the last two decades – we are no longer discharging such high quantities of sewage directly into water bodies. Today’s challenge comes from short-term pollution loads during heavy rain and flooding. This can overflow sewage systems and wash faecal bacteria from farmland into the rivers and seas.”

Local authorities monitor the samples at local beaches, collecting samples in the spring and throughout the bathing season. Bathing waters are can be rated ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor’. The ratings are based on levels of two types of bacteria which indicate pollution from sewage or livestock. These bacteria can cause illness (vomiting and diarrhoea) if swallowed.

Bathing water ratings do not consider litter, pollution and other aspects harming the natural environment. While most bathing sites are clean enough to protect human health, many of the ecosystems in Europe’s water bodies are in a worrying state. This is evident in Europe’s seas – a recent assessment found that Europe’s marine ecosystems are threatened by climate change, pollution, overfishing and acidification. Many of these pressures are set to increase.

Bathing water: key findings

• While more than 95 % of bathing sites met the minimum requirements, 83 % met the more stringent ‘excellent’ level. Just 2 % were poor.
• The proportion of sites passing the minimum requirements in 2013 was roughly the same as 2012. However, the proportion of ‘excellent’ sites increased from 79 % in 2012 to 83 % in 2013.
• At coastal beaches, water quality was slightly better, with 85 % of sites classified as excellent. All coastal beaches in Slovenia and Cyprus were classified as excellent.
• Inland, bathing water quality seems to have been slightly lower than the average. Luxembourg was the only country to receive ‘excellent’ for all its inland bathing sites, with Denmark close behind with 94 % excellent. Germany achieved excellent quality at 92 % of almost 2 000 inland bathing sites.
  [europa.eu]
  27/5/14
  
  

Cyprus’ energy hopes rise as Ukraine crisis deepens

As the crisis in Ukraine deepens, Cyprus seems to be seen as a key player in EU rush for alternative gas supplies. 

Policy makers have even gone as far as to hope that new gas routes could help end decades of division on Cyprus. 

And the timing of US vice president Joe Biden’s visit next week in the island is no coincidence. It is worth reminding that it will be the first visit by a US president or a vice president in 52 years.

The risk of investing in energy infrastructure in Cyprus seems to have been reduced as the crisis in the Ukraine unfolds, with the EU looking towards solutions that may cost more, but which will ensure its energy security, an EU informal meeting in Athens has heard.
[sofiaglobe.com]
17/5/14
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• κυπριακή ΑΟΖ - EEZ

At least 10 firms bid for Israel-Turkey gas pipeline. -Report, Israeli daily

At least 10 companies, including two Turkish energy firms, have presented offers in the tender for the exporting of natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan gas field to Turkey through a pipeline, an Israeli daily reported.

Bidders include Turkey’s Zorlu Group, which already holds an indirect stake in an Israeli power plant, and a joint bid by Turcas Petrol and German electricity utility RWE,  according to Israeli daily Globes.

The daily cited unnamed sources as saying the bids for the natural gas ranged between 7 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year and 10 bcm, “amounts that could generate $22-31 billion revenue, assuming a 15-year gas supply contract at $6 per million British Thermal Units [mmBTU], the price of natural gas in Israel’s domestic market.”

Leviathan is estimated to hold some 540 billion cubic meters of gas, enough to supply Europe for a year. The field is being developed by U.S.-based Noble Energy, which is the project’s lead partner with a 30 percent stake, while the other groups involved are Israel’s Delek Group, Avner Oil Exploration and Ratio Oil Exploration and Australian Woodside, who joined the field by acquiring 25-percent stake in February.

• In September, Turcas Board Member Mathew Bryza had announced the company had submitted a $2.5-billion offer to build a pipeline under the sea from Israel to Turkey’s southern province of Mersin.

Globes said the deal would include laying a pipeline between Turkey and Leviathan’s proposed floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ship, which deliver gas to Israeli and regional customers.

“The price in the bids is the purchase price of the gas from the FPSO. In addition to this price, the bids will be evaluated on the basis of their commercial terms, including the take or pay condition and the capacity of the gas purchased,” the daily reported.

The relations between the two countries, which have been scarred since May 2010 when Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists while storming a ship in a convoy seeking to break an Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, have started to pick up pieces since Israel apologized for the incident a year ago, raising hopes for new energy alliances. 
(hurriyetdailynews.com)
25/3/14
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• Δηλώσεις Αντ. της Κυβέρνησης και ΥΠΕΞ Ευάγγελου Βενιζέλου με ΥΠΕΞ Ισραήλ Avigdor Liberman (Αθήνα, 20.03.2014). 

• Αγωγός EastMed: Κερδίζει Έδαφος;

• CNN: Η Κύπρος δεν μπορεί να υποστηρίξει τερματικό. -Θα ήταν βιώσιμο αν η Κύπρος προχωρούσε σε συμφωνία με το Ισραήλ

• Eμπόδιο η Κύπρος 

• Turkish company offers Israel to build pipeline. -Mathew Bryza announced the offer worth $2.5 billion during an energy conference held in Cyprus. 

• Τη σύνδεση του ισραηλινού Λεβιάθαν με την Τουρκία μέσω αγωγού προτείνει ο Μπράιζα.

• Η συγνώμη Νετανιάχου βήμα προς έναν αγωγό Ισραήλ – Τσεϊχάν εκτιμά η Χουριέτ

US Navy SEALs take control of oil tanker hijacked in Libya: Pentagon

U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker that had was seized earlier this month at a Libyan port by three armed men, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

No one was hurt in the boarding operation conducted late on March 16, approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, requested by the Libyan and Cypriot governments and conducted in international waters southeast of Cyprus, said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.

"The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained from the Libyan port of As-Sidra," his statement said. 

The ship, which departed from the eastern Libyan port of Al-Sidra - controlled by rebels seeking autonomy from the authorities in Tripoli - is reported to have loaded at least 234,000 barrels of crude.

Pyongyang last week however denied any responsibility for the tanker. The ship was operated by an Egypt-based company that was allowed to temporarily use the North Korean flag under a contract with Pyongyang, North Korean state news agency KCNA said March 12.

Pyongyang had "cancelled and deleted" the ship's North Korean registry, as it violated its law "on the registry of ships and the contract that prohibited it from transporting contraband cargo."
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-navy-seals-take-control-of-oil-tanker-hijacked-in-libya-pentagon.aspx?pageID=238&nID=63677&NewsCatID=357
17/3/14
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Related:

• U.S. Navy SEALs board rogue Libyan oil ship...

• Libyan troops seize North-Korea-flagged oil tanker ... 

• Possible navy attack on North Korea-flagged tanker a "declaration of war". - Libyan rebels

 -------

• Libya threatens to bomb N Korea-flagged oil tanker if it ignores Navy orders

• Threat Issued in Libyan Oil Export Dispute ...

• Libya sends navy to stop North Korean tanker...

• Libya to intercept or strike oil tanker: MP...

First chemical materials removed from Syria by ship

DAMASCUS: A first shipment of material has been removed from Syria under a deal to rid the country of its chemical weapons arsenal, the joint mission overseeing the disarmament said Tuesday.

"A first quantity of priority chemical materials was moved from two sites to the port of Latakia for verification and was then loaded onto a Danish commercial vessel today," the mission said in a statement.

It added that the boat had sailed for international waters.

"This movement initiates the process of transfer of chemical materials from the Syrian Arab Republic to locations outside its territory for destruction," the statement said.

Maritime security is being provided by naval escorts from China, Denmark, Norway and Russia, it added.

The removal had been scheduled to take place before December 31, but Syria's worsening civil war, logistical problems and bad weather had delayed the operation.

The year-end deadline for the removal of key weapons components was the first major milestone under a UN Security Council-backed deal arranged by Russia and the United States that aims to eliminate all of Syria's chemical arms by the middle of this year.

Under the plan, the chemicals will be taken from Latakia to a port in Italy where they will be transferred to a US Navy vessel fitted with equipment to destroy them at sea.

- AFP/xq
channelnewsasia.com
7/1/14
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Related:

• Danish, Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast

• Nordic ships on call for Syria chemical shipment...

• Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• 

  MV Cape Ray

  United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

 

Danish, Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast

BEIRUT, January 03, /ITAR-TASS/. Two Danish and two Norwegian ships have left the Port of Limassol and made the way towards international waters near the Syrian seacoast.

Two dry-cargo ships and two coastguard vessels will be in international waters to enter the Syrian port of Latakia at any moment in order to load containers with chemical weapons, Norwegian Defence Ministry spokesman Lars Magne Hovtun said on Friday.
Russian and Chinese military ships - the Pyotr Veliky heavy nuclear missile cruiser and China’s Yan Cheng will ensure security while containers are transported to one of the Italian ports where they will be reloaded to the U.S. Cape Ray for further elimination.

Head of the OPCW-U.N. Joint Mission Sigrid Kaag said a certain delay did not prevent the international community from conducting the operation.

Chemical weapons should be withdrawn from Syria till February 5, 2014. The most dangerous agents will be eliminated outside Syria not later than March 31, 2014. The others will be eliminated by June 30, 2014.

itar-tass.com

3/1/14

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Related:

• Nordic ships on call for Syria chemical shipment...

• Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

Turkish energy minister: Cyprus oil belongs to Cyprus

Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz has said that any profits gained from oil and natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean should belong to people the people of Cyprus.

Comparing the island to Iraq, Yildiz told a press conference ‘the same way we say oil extracted from Iraq belongs to Iraq, we say that any oil or natural gas extracted anywhere around Cyprus belongs to Cyprus.’

These comments come as disputes between Turkey and  Cyprus continue to boil over.

The Greek Cypriot government has been involved in joint oil and natural gas explorations with Israel, as well as discussing deals with Egypt, which Turkey opposes due to the unresolved Cyprus problem.

Turkey therefore sent a ship to search for oil in the Mediterranean Sea between the TRNC and Turkey, much to the anger of the Greek Cypriots.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=126131
2/1/14
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• ΤΑΝΕΡ ΓΙΛΝΤΙΖ: Δεν θα κάνουμε έρευνες σε αμφισβητούμενες περιοχές...

Το 2014 το ερευνητικό τουρκικό πλοίο Μπάρμπαρόσσα δεν θα κάνει έρευνες σε περιοχές αμφισβητούμενες, δήλωσε ο Τούρκος Υπουργός Ενέργειας Τανέρ Γιλντίζ αναφερόμενος στις έρευνες για φυσικό αέριο και πετρέλαιο στην Κύπρο.Ο Τούρκος Υπουργός είπε σήμερα σε συνέντευξη Τύπου από τα γραφεία τους Τουρκικής Ανώνυμης Εταιρείας Πετρελαίου (TPAO)  ότι η Άγκυρα πιστεύει πως το φυσικό αέριο και το πετρέλαιο πρέπει να αποτελέσει αιτία ειρήνης και όχι έντασης.
"Γι αυτό πρέπει να πω ότι εμείς, τόσο από τεχνικής απόψεως όσο και από πολιτικής η προτίμησή μας είναι όπως το 2014 να μην βρεθούμε σε αμφισβητούμενες περιοχές. Είμαι σε θέση να πω ότι το σεισμογραφικό πλοίο Μπάρμπαρος Χαϊρεττίν Πασά συνεχίζει τις έρευνες του σε περιοχές μη αμφισβητούμενες.Πρέπει να δημιουργηθεί μια δομή η οποία να περιλαμβάνει την Κύπρο ως ολόκληρη. Επιδεικνύουμε μια στάση ισορροπημένη. Λέμε ότι το πετρέλαιο και το φυσικό αέριο που βγαίνει από οποιοδήποτε μέρος της Κύπρου ανήκει σε ολόκληρη την Κύπρο", είπε ο Τανέρ Γιλντίζ. politisnews.eu
02/01/2014 - 13:47---ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ:

• Λακκοτρύπης: Ενημέρωση σε ΕΕ και ΟΗΕ από τα αρμόδια υπουργεία για τη δραστηριότητα του Barbaros.

• Τουρκικό σεισμογραφικό στην Κυπριακή ΑΟΖ

  

Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) – Danish and Swedish ships that will be used to ferry away Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal have docked in Cyprus on their way to the civil war-wracked Mideast nation.
Cypriot ambassador to Russia, George Kasoulides, said Monday that the weapons will be transferred from those ships onto a US vessel and destroyed at sea.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in November finalized a roadmap for destroying Syria’s arsenal more than 1,000 metric tons of weapons-grade chemicals. According to the roadmap, the most dangerous weapons have to be removed from Syria by the end of December and destroyed at sea by April. The rest is slated for destruction by mid-2014.

The disarmament process was launched after an August 21 chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds of civilians. The US and Western allies accused the Syrian government of responsibility for that attack, but Damascus blamed rebel groups fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said Friday that the United States had identified a country prepared to provide a port for transshipment of Syrian chemical weapons onto an US vessel but provided no specific details.
 http://en.ria.ru/world/20131216/185618272/Vessels-for-Syrian-Chemical-Arms-Removal-Dock-in-Cyprus.html
16/12/13
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Related:

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

  

  MV Cape Ray

   

Turkish company offers Israel to build pipeline. -Mathew Bryza announced the offer worth $2.5 billion during an energy conference held in Cyprus.

Turkey’s Turcas Holding has submitted a $2.5 billion offer to Israel for the construction of a 470-kilometer pipeline between Israel and Turkey.

Istanbul (Constantinople)-based Turcas Holding has offered Israel, which has started to discover considerable amounts of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean, to build a pipeline under the sea from Israel to Turkey’s southern province of Mersin. A member of the board, Mathew Bryza announced the offer worth $2.5 billion during an energy conference held in Cyprus.

Byrza, a former American diplomat, said the 470-kilometers-long pipeline would have a capacity to transfer 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year. He also stressed that if the political problems between Turkey and Israel affected the construction, all cost and responsibility would be assumed by Turcas. 



Besides, Israeli daily Globes said Turkey’s Zorlu Group was also in talks with Israel for pipeline building and buying natural gas. Globus said Zorlu, which was constructing a power plant in the Ashkelon province of Israel, contacted the companies that had shares in Israel’s natural gas region Leviathan and made offers for buying natural gas and constructing a pipeline.

Israel’s government in June approved limiting natural gas exports to about 40 percent of the country’s newly-discovered offshore reserves. Two of the world’s largest offshore fields found in the past decade lie in Israeli waters. Tamar, with an estimated 280 bcm, was discovered in 2009, and a year later Leviathan was found, with an estimated 530 bcm. 
 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-company-offers-israel-to-build-pipeline.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54502&NewsCatID=34816/9/13---Related:

• Τη σύνδεση του ισραηλινού Λεβιάθαν με την Τουρκία μέσω αγωγού προτείνει ο Μπράιζα.

   

  • Η συγνώμη Νετανιάχου βήμα προς έναν αγωγό Ισραήλ – Τσεϊχάν εκτιμά η Χουριέτ

  • Gas from Israel’s New Field Starts Flowing....

  • Σχέδια για αγωγό από την Noble. Εγκαταλείπει τη συμφωνία για εξαγορά του 30% του Λεβιάθαν η Woodside.

  
   

  

  Mathew Bryza

   

  
  

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European Commission: Cyprus and Luxembourg top bathing water rankings

Water at nearly all of Europe’s beaches – and most of its rivers and lakes – are clean enough to swim in. And the quality is improving.

If you're planning a trip to the beach this year you can rest easy – the water at 95% of beaches is clean enough to meet minimum EU standards. Of bathing sites in rivers and lakes, 91% make the grade.
In the latest report, most sites were given an excellent rating for 2012 – the same proportion as in 2011. But more managed a “sufficient” rating than in the previous year.
2012 water testing
The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) annual bathing water report looked at samples from more than 22 000 bathing sites around Europe.
Water was tested for harmful pollutants and bacteria, such as E. coli – possibly from sewage or livestock waste.

Best... and worst performers

• The top performers in 2012 were Cyprus and Luxembourg, with all listed bathing sites found to be “excellent”. Malta, Croatia and Greece were the next best, with over 90% rated “excellent”.

The worst performers in terms of not meeting minimum standards were Belgium (13%), the Netherlands (7%) and the United Kingdom (6%).
In the UK, 58.2% of 629 bathing sites tested were excellent, 35.6% were of good or sufficient quality, but 37 fell short of the required minimum.
Although water quality has improved overall, both the Commission and the EEA want more to be done to ensure all the EU’s waters are suitable for bathing and drinking. This means cutting down on pollution from sewage, improving water drainage from farms and farmland and better control of animal waste affecting beaches.
 http://ec.europa.eu/news/environment/130805_en.htm
5/8/13
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Related:

• Καθαρές οι θάλασσες Πρωταρά – Λάρνακας τονίζει το Υπ. Γεωργίας

• Γαλάζιες σημαίες: 2η και φέτος η Ελλάδα!...Μεταξύ 49 χωρών

 

Πρωταρχικός στόχος επιθέσεων το τερματικό

ΦΩΤΟ: sigmalive.gr

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Αντώνης Αντωνίου | 21 Ιούνιος 2013, 16:01
Ένα θέμα το οποίο δεν αναπτύχθηκε ιδιαίτερα μέχρι σήμερα σε σχέση με τις εξελίξεις στον τομέα της ενέργειας, έθιξαν δύο ομιλητές στο 2nd Natural Gas Conference.
Στο μικροσκόπιο τέθηκε το θέμα της ασφάλειας των υποδομών κυρίως στην περιοχή του Βασιλικού που μετατρέπεται σε ενεργειακό κέντρο.
Ο εκτελεστικός διευθυντής του European Rim Policy and Investment Council, George Pelagias, αφού ανέφερε πως η δημιουργία τερματικού είναι η μόνη επιλογή της Κύπρου για εκμετάλλευση των κοιτασμάτων τη, τόνισε πως η συγκέντρωση ενεργειακών έργων στο Βασιλικό, μπορεί να είναι καλό αλλά μπορεί να είναι και κακό αφού κρύβει πολλούς  κινδύνους σε θέματα ασφαλείας.

Η Κύπρος, εξήγησε, πρέπει να μπορεί να ελέγχει τις θαλάσσιες περιοχές της στην ΑΟΖ και αυτός πρέπει να είναι ο ακρογωνιαίος λίθος των αμυντικών της σχεδιασμών. «Η Κύπρος πρέπει να αντιληφθεί πως η διενέξεις στην περιοχή της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου δεν είναι πλέον on-shore αλλά off-shore», σχολίασε με νόημα.
Ένας από τους τομείς για τον οποίο έκρουσε τον κώδωνα του κινδύνου ο G. Pelagias, είναι αυτός των τρομοκρατικών επιθέσεων διά θαλάσσης. Παράλληλα, έκανε αναφορά και σε επιθέσεις σε αγωγούς και τερματικά στη ξηρά.  Η Τουρκία, ανέφερε ως παράδειγμα, τα τελευταία χρόνια δέχθηκε 59 επιθέσεις σε αγωγούς και γι’ αυτό άλλαξε την στρατηγική της για το συγκεκριμένο θέμα.
Επίσης, έκανε αναφορά και για επιθέσεις μέσω λογισμικών προγραμμάτων. Στις ΗΠΑ, όπως εξήγησε, κυβερνοεπιθέσεις είχαν πολλές φορές στόχο συστήματα διαχείρισης αγωγών στα οποία επιχειρούσαν να αυξήσουν την πίεση στους αγωγούς με στόχο να προκαλέσουν εκρήξεις.
Ανοικτό άφησε το ενδεχόμενο και για σαμποτάζ αλλά και από το οργανωμένο έγκλημα. «Το ενεργειακό κέντρο στο Βασιλικό θα αποτελεί πρωταρχικό στόχο για τυχόν εγκληματική ενέργεια και γι’ αυτό χρειάζεται συνεργασία των χωρών της περιοχής».
Στο ίδιο πνεύμα και οι δηλώσεις του Ephraim Sneh προέδρου του S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue στο Ισραήλ.
Ο κ.Sneh υπογράμμισε πως για σκοπούς ασφάλειας, κάθε σκάφος που θα πλησιάζει στην περιοχή του Βασιλικού πρέπει να αναγνωρίζεται. Την ίδια ώρα, εισηγήθηκε την απαγόρευση πτήσεων στη συγκεκριμένη περιοχή.
Τόνισε επίσης πως ο χώρος πρέπει να ασφαλιστεί με σύγχρονα μέσα ενώ χαρακτήρισε απαραίτητη τη συνεργασία με περιφερειακούς και μη φίλους και συμμάχους της Κύπρου οι οποίοι μπορούν να αποτελέσουν πηγές προειδοποίησης. «Πιστεύω πως άλλες χώρες θα είναι πρόθυμες να βοηθήσουν γι’ αυτό τον σκοπό», ανέφερε.
Όσον αφορά την ευθύνη για θέματα ασφάλειας, ήταν κάθετος πως πρέπει να είναι στην κυβέρνηση. «Εάν κάτι τύχει στο Βασιλικό η πραγματική ζημιά θα είναι περισσότερο για τη χώρα παρά για τις εταιρείες οι οποίες θα έχουν ασφαλιστική κάλυψη». Σύμφωνα με αρχικούς υπολογισμούς τους οποίους έκανε, το κόστος για ασφάλεια του τερματικού υγροποίησης, μπορεί να ανέλθει σε 80εκ. δολάρια, δηλαδή στο 1% της συνολικής επένδυσης.
Υπό κανονικές συνθήκες, πρόσθεσε, θα έπρεπε να πληρώσει το κυπριακό κράτος το κόστος ασφάλειας, αλλά υπό τις σημερινές συνθήκες πιστεύω πως οι εταιρείες θα πληρώσουν το κόστος το οποίο θα αφαιρεθεί στο μέλλον από τα ποσά που θα πρέπει να καταβάλουν οι εταιρείες στο κυπριακό κράτος. «Θα πρέπει οπωσδήποτε να δημιουργηθεί μία δύναμη ασφαλείας, ας πούμε η Vasilikos defense force», κατέληξε.
www.sigmalive.com
21/6/13
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Σκουπιδότοπος… πυρομαχικών στη θάλασσα της Κύπρου....Λευκωσία καλεί Ελλάδα και Ισραήλ - Cyprus asks Israel, Greece to assist in clearing munitions dumped offshore

Την αρωγή της Ελλάδας και του Ισραήλ ζητεί η Λευκωσία για την απομάκρυνση μεγάλης ποσότητας πυρομαχικών του στρατού, τα οποία θάφτηκαν στη νότια ακτή του νησιού την περίοδο 1980-93. 

Την είδηση διέδωσε ο υπουργός Άμυνας της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας Φώτης Φωτίου, ο οποίος σημείωσε ότι θα ζητήσει επίσης τη συνδρομή του Ευρωπαϊκού Οργανισμού για την Ασφάλεια και τη Συνεργασία.

Σύμφωνα με τον Φωτίου, στον πυθμένα της θάλασσας υπάρχουν 167 διαφορετικοί τύποι πυρομαχικών, όπως νάρκες, χειροβομβίδες και βλήματα πυροβολικού.


Δεν είναι γνωστή η ακριβής τοποθεσία στην οποία βρίσκονται θαμμένα τα πυρομαχικά, τα οποία αφενός εγκυμονούν κινδύνους για τους ψαράδες και το περιβάλλον, αφετέρου μπορούν να επηρεάσουν τους σχεδιασμούς της Λευκωσίας για την εξόρυξη φυσικού αερίου.

Πηγή: Associated Press
http://www.enet.gr/?i=news-room.el&id=368796
8/6/13
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• Cyprus asks Israel, Greece to assist in clearing munitions dumped offshore 

According to the Cypriot defense minister there are 167 types of munitions dumped by Cypriots including mines, hand grenades and artillery shells at the bottom of the sea, but their exact location is uncertain.

Cyprus' defense minister says he has asked Greece and Israel for help in getting rid of a large amount of discarded army munitions that were dumped off the island nation's southern coast between 1980 and 1993.
Fotis Fotiou said Saturday that he will also seek assistance from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 
Fotiou said there are 167 types of munitions dumped by Cypriots including mines, hand grenades and artillery shells at the bottom of the sea, but their exact location is uncertain. 
The minister said authorities will move quickly to deal with the munitions because apart from posing a danger to fishermen and the environment, they could also hamper the country's plans to develop newfound offshore gas deposits off its southern coast. 
www.haaretz.com8/6/13