• Israel Courting Energy Heavyweights to Seek Offshore Gas - Bloomberg
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-31/israel-courting-energy-heavyweights-to-seek-offshore-gas

    Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz is out to persuade big energy explorers put off by years of regulatory turmoil to search for natural gas off his country’s shores.
    At a road show in London this week, Steinitz will sit down with executives from large and mid-sized energy companies to make his case that prospects for finding big reserves are good.
    According to geological and seismological surveys, it is very probable that most of the natural gas is yet to be found,” Steinitz said in an interview late Tuesday, on the eve of his London trip. “We hope to see at least two or three large companies submitting bids.
    A report by French consultants Beicip-Franlab SA estimated that Israel’s waters hold 2,200 billion cubic meters of undiscovered gas, about 2 1/2 times the amount contained in known fields, Steinitz said. In the past 12 months, he said, he’s met with chairmen, executives and directors of almost all of the world’s major gas companies to promote new exploration.
    […]
    Foreign companies shied from Israel during the years of regulatory turmoil, which ended with higher taxes and forced divestitures for investors in Leviathan and Tamar, the country’s second-biggest field. Amos Hochstein, the U.S. State Department’s special envoy for global energy affairs, said in an interview this month that big explorers will need to be reassured that the Israeli government won’t start changing regulation and tax laws.
    […]
    Solid diplomatic relations with potential energy partners in the region are also central to bringing large companies to Israel, he said. Israel has held gas talks with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, and is considering building a pipeline to Turkey and using idle LNG facilities in Egypt.
    We need to see the clearing of the geopolitical path, with obstacles removed for export deals in the region and that is already happening,” Hochstein said. He singled out the recent Israel-Turkey reconciliation deal as a major step forward and expressed optimism about talks for a reunification of Cyprus, which a pipeline to Turkey would traverse.

    • Israel seeks new gas routes to Europe after fixing red tape | Reuters
      http://www.reuters.com/article/israel-gas-idUSL8N1BD3XT

      The new regulatory framework guarantees Israel would receive 540 billion cubic metres of gas over the next 35 years, but any additional volumes can be exported, [Energy Minister Yuval] Steinitz said.

      While Israel plans to initially export gas to neighbouring Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, it is also examining three options to access the Western European market - via existing liquefied natural gas terminals in Egypt, a pipeline running to Turkey or a pipeline to Greece through Cyprus.
      […]
      Initial geological studies indicated that it is “highly probable” that there are around 2,200 bcm of gas to be discovered on top of some 900 bcm already found in fields such as the giant Tamar and Leviathan deposits.

      Europe consumes around 420 bcm each year.

      Israel plans to offer 24 exploration blocks in its maritime territory in a bidding round that is expected to be launched in November.

  • French Coca-Cola Workers Find Smuggled Cocaine in Shipment - Bloomberg
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-31/french-coca-cola-workers-find-smuggled-cocaine-in-shipment

    Workers at a Coca-Cola factory in southern France opened a shipment of orange juice but found a huge shipment of cocaine instead.
    The Coca-Cola factory in the town of Signes, near the Mediterranean coast, produces concentrates for various drinks. A spokesman for Coca-Cola France says employees immediately notified police and judicial authorities have opened an investigation.
    Sacks containing 370 kilograms (815 pounds) of cocaine were hidden in a shipping container holding orange juice from Costa Rica, the spokesman said.