Cyprus Business Now

International hydrocarbon exploration and production company Energean on Tuesday announced that Israel has now officially entered the oil exporters club, after hydrocarbon liquids were transported from Karish.

“Energean is delighted to confirm the first-ever lifting of an Israeli crude oil cargo has taken place at the company’s Karish field,” the company said.

“For the first time in the history of Israeli oil and gas production, hydrocarbon liquids will be exported to global markets,” it added.

The company explained that by utilising the regionally unique liquids storage and offloading capability of the FPSO “Energean Power”, the liquids are offloaded in a controlled manner and sold into various global markets.

Moreover, according to the company, this creates a significant and differentiated income stream, fundamentally separate from gas-derived revenues.

The cargo has been sold as part of a multi-cargo marketing agreement with Vitol; the first of a new source of East Med energy to reach Europe.

“While we remain a gas-focused company, with our Israeli gas production central to our role in enabling the energy transition, light, sweet crude oil responsibly produced from modern, low carbon intensity facilities is very much in demand, globally,” Energean Group Commercial Director Nick Witney said.

Meanwhile, Energean CEO Mathios Rigas commented that “we are happy and proud that Energean has facilitated Israel joining the club of international oil exporters”.

“This is another milestone for us, enhancing Energean’s growth as a significant player in the local and regional markets,” he added.

It should be noted that Energen put forth a proposal at the last tripartite meeting of the energy ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus, which was held on April 11, which, at the time, revived the notion of LNG exports from Cyprus.

During that meeting, Energean CEO Mathios Rigas proposed to export natural gas from the company’s gas fields in Israel to Cyprus for liquefaction using a floating liquefied natural gas vessel (FLNG) at Vasilikos and export to Europe.

The three energy ministers expressed their support for the project, with Cypriot Energy Minister Natasa Pilidou subsequently confirming that she considered the proposal to be a positive development.

The University of Nicosia this week announced that it will hold a special educational programme on business sustainability and governance.

The programme, which will be held on March 15-16 on the university’s grounds in Nicosia, will focus on the practical applications of the European business sustainability mode.

“The University of Nicosia’s Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Centre (CSRC) is launching a training programme on business sustainability and governance, with the aim of supporting companies to take the right approach in implementing sustainability in their strategy and transforming their business model,” the university said.

“The training programme is offered for the first time in Cyprus and seeks to utilise the international experience from the application of the EFQM model to help those companies that are either obliged by the relevant European Directives, such as CSRD and CSDD, among others, or have voluntarily chosen to integrate sustainability management in their agendas,” it added

Moreover, the university explained that the programme is mainly aimed at board members, senior managers and executives of companies and organisations across a number of specialised positions.

These include strategic management, process redefinition, business development, investor relations management, human resources management, communication and marketing management, supply chain and procurement management, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development management, health safety and environmental management, as well as quality and systems management.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, February 14 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 100.40 points at 12:41 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.40 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 60.63 points, representing a rise of 0.41 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €33,237.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main index rose by 1.01 per cent, while the alternative index fell by 1.19 per cent.

The hotel and investment firm indexes remained unchanged from the previous day.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (no change), Demetra (no change), Petrolina Holdings (+0.84 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+3.16 per cent), and Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company (-5.04 per cent).