石油价格

随着加沙战火纷飞以及以色列和黎巴嫩真主党之间的紧张局势升级，私募股权基金凯雷投资集团 (Carlyle) (纳斯达克股票代码：CG) 正在组建一家新的地中海石油和天然气公司，由前英国石油公司首席执行官托尼·海沃德 (Tony Hayward) 领导，此前该基金以近 10 亿美元的价格从 Energean 手中收购了三个国家的资产。

该交易尚需获得监管部门的批准，交易完成后，凯雷将获得多元化的资产组合，该组合由高度战略性的天然气加权资产组成，预期日产量相当于 47,000 桶石油，业务遍及意大利、埃及和克罗地亚，并且在支持新天然气开发的市场上拥有先进的大规模开发项目，该基金在  周四的新闻稿中表示。

该投资组合还包括意大利储量最大的天然气田卡西奥佩亚（Cassiopea）和埃及最大的天然气生产中心之一阿布基尔（Abu Qir）的权益。

总体而言，凯雷将这笔交易视为对欧洲俄罗斯天然气替代品进行更深入投资的一种方式。

目前，Energean 主要在以色列近海生产天然气，其首席执行官 Mathios Rigas 周四对路透社表示，该公司将寻求将业务扩展到欧洲、中东和非洲。在谈及周四的公告时，他告诉路透社：“这对我们来说是一笔很划算的交易，我们以购买价的三倍出售资产。”

截至周四撰写本文时，凯雷集团 (Carlyle Group Inc) 股价上涨逾 1%，而伦敦上市的 Energean 股价上涨逾 3%。

该交易预计将于今年年底完成。

Energean 公司经营地中海的 Karish 海上气田，该气田位于以色列和黎巴嫩之间长期存在领土争端的海域。尽管 Karish 主要是一个气田，但 Energean 公司 于去年 2 月从该气田出口了第一批伴生原油 ，使其跻身石油出口国俱乐部。天然气生产于今年 2 月启动，观察人士警告称，由于过去几周跨境火箭弹袭击和空袭不断升级，该气田可能成为真主党的攻击目标。

作者：Charles Kennedy，Oilprice.com

主图（来源：路透社）

Oil Price

As the war rages on in Gaza and tensions escalate between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, private equity fund Carlyle (NASDAQ:CG) is forming a new Mediterranean oil and gas company to be led by ex-BP CEO Tony Hayward following the fund’s acquisition of assets in three countries for nearly $1 billion from Energean.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, will give Carlyle “a diversified portfolio of highly strategic gas-weighted assets with expected production equivalent to 47,000 barrels of oil per day and operations across Italy, Egypt, and Croatia, with well-advanced, large-scale developments in markets that are supportive of new gas development,” the fund said in a press release on Thursday.

The portfolio also includes interests in Italy’s largest gas field in terms of reserves, Cassiopea, and Abu Qir, one of Egypt’s biggest gas-producing hubs.

Overall, Carlyle is looking at the deal as a way to get more deeply invested in alternatives to Russian gas for Europe.

Currently, Energean produces gas primarily offshore Israel, with CEO Mathios Rigas telling Reuters on Thursday that it will be looking to expand across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “It’s a great deal for us, we’re selling assets at three times the price we bought them,” he told Reuters in reference to Thursday’s announcement.

Shares of Carlyle Group Inc were up over 1% at the time of writing on Thursday, while shares of London-listed Energean were up well over 3%.

The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.

Energean operates the Karish offshore gasfield in the Mediterranean, in maritime waters involved in a long-running territorial dispute between Israel and Lebanon. While Karish is primarily a gasfield, Energean exported its first associated crude oil from the field in February last year, catapulting it into the oil exporters club. Gas production launched in February this year, with observers warning that it could be targeted by Hezbollah as cross-border rocket attacks and air strikes have escalated over the past couple of weeks.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Lead image (Credit: Reuters)