One step closer to global gas export hub status: Egypt is expected to resume LNG exports to Jordan via pipeline on 1 January 2019, an unnamed government official tells Hellenic Shipping News. Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had said a few months back that Egypt was planning to resume LNG exports to Jordan — which have been disrupted since 2011 — early on in 2019, without specifying the exact timeline or volume of shipments. EGAS and state energy firm Enppi had also signed a USD 13 mn agreement to build a 17 km steel pipeline for the Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr for Natural Gas Transport and Supply Company that should be complete in 2020. The piece notes that it is “unclear whether Egypt still owed Jordan any compensation for the disruption in flows.”

Go home, Turkey. You’re drunk and jealous and feeling left behind. This comes as Turkish media once again accuses Egypt of being too greedy with its oil and gas exploration in the East Mediterranean, with the latest piece from Turkish daily Yeni Safak saying that Egypt and Israel are both trying to “abort” agreements they had struck with Ankara years ago over maritime jurisdiction in their efforts to secure reserves in the area. Turkey has been resorting to bullying Cyprus over the past year, interfering with exploration operations at the Aphrodite gas field. This prompted Cypriot Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis to vow that the government will do everything necessary to ensure ExxonMobil’s offshore oil and gas search runs smoothly, despite threats from Turkey, Offshore Technology reports.