Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1146457
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JULY 2019 NEWS Professional Officer - Legal Procurator Jobplus Permit Number – 544/2019 In possession of a valid warrant to practice as a Legal Procurator in the Courts of Malta and Gozo. Having previously worked in other legal roles will be considered an asset. Knowledge of the laws and regulations governing land ownership in Malta & Gozo shall be considered as an asset. CAREER OPPORTUNITY WE ARE RECRUITING ESSENTIAL Qualifications Experience Interested persons are kindly requested to submit a letter of application and a detailed CV only by email, as one pdf document to: hr.la@landsauthority. org.mt by Monday 29th July 2019. Emails are to indicate the position being applied for and the name of the applicant in the subject. Applications will be acknowledged and treated in strictest confidence. For more information visit the link below: https://landsauthority.org.mt/about-us/careers/ Lands Authority is seeking applications from interested persons to fill the following position: Call for quotation SUPPLY OF CLAY TARGETS Reference : SM/46/2019/QUO All quotes are to be submitted via EPPS Deadline for submissions : 22.7.2019 KURT SANSONE MALTA'S appetite to search for oil was reawak- ened last week when the government awarded a li- cence to an Italian compa- ny for exploration north of the islands. But an unresolved dis- pute with Italy over drilling rights in the eastern reach- es of Malta's continental shelf continues to prevent another company from searching for oil. Heritage Oil was awarded an exploration licence in 2007 for Areas 2 and 7 to the east of Marsaxlokk. Ge- ological studies indicated a possible oil prospect nick- named Caravaggio. The area has been "drill ready" for almost five years but the company says on its website that it awaits the Maltese government's go-ahead before it can start drilling. The government has con- firmed that it has not yet given Heritage Oil permis- sion to commence drilling. "The Caravaggio prospect is in part of the continental shelf over which there are overlapping interests from neighbouring states. Malta has made various efforts to resolve pending issues with Italy, however an agree- ment has not been reached yet," a spokesperson for the government told MaltaTo- day. Italy laid claim to the area in 2015 and attempts to broker an agreement for joint exploration of the disputed areas have so far yielded no results. The same area had been claimed by Libya back in the 1980s when the north African state sent gun boats to stop a Maltese- licensed Italian oil rig from prospecting for oil on the Medina Bank. Malta's oil exploration has never been intensive despite the existence of commercially good oil and gas reserves in the neigh- bourhood, belonging to Italy, Libya and Tunisia. The latest one-year li- cence was given to Edison and will see the company carry out geological and geophysical studies on ex- isting data from three off- shore zones in Area 3. The company will study Blocks 1, 2 and 3 that cover the northern most reaches of Malta's exclusive eco- nomic zone, which bor- ders various offshore Si- cilian oil fields, including Vega that is also operated by Edison. This is the first licence in many years and some of the previous wells drilled in the blocks awarded to Edison have indicated the pres- ence of oil and gas but not in commercial quantities. The area covered by the Edison licence sprawls over 6,400sq. km and the agree- ment can be extended by a further two years. Edison has a portfolio of about 90 licences in 10 countries in the Mediter- ranean area and North- ern Europe but the Italian company was purchased by Greek company Energean Oil and Gas earlier this month for an initial consid- eration of $750 million. Oil drilling remains suspended as continental shelf dispute with Italy still unresolved KURT SANSONE MALTA will shoulder the full cost of the €400 mil- lion gas pipeline project to Sicily, according to an agreement reached between the two countries' reg- ulatory agencies. Signed last month, the agreement between the Maltese Regulator for Energy and Water Services (REWS) and its Italian counterpart, ARERA, sug- gests the project can be completed by 2024, two years earlier than previously thought possible. The project will be carried out by Melita Transgas Ltd, a company set up last year by the Maltese gov- ernment, and will also benefit from EU funding. The pipeline is considered a project of common interest by the EU because it would end Malta's iso- lation from the European gas network. The primary shareholder in Melita Transgas is Petromal Ltd, a government company that acts as a fuel importer and operates Enemed. Melita Transgas will also run the operation when the pro- ject is completed. The agreement that was published on the respec- tive websites of the energy agencies states that a cost-benefit analysis of the project would see Malta get the lion's share of the benefit from the pipeline project. Malta will gain a net benefit of €313 million from the project, as opposed to Italy's €19 million, ac- cording to the documentation. The pipeline will enable Malta to reduce its CO2 emissions, give the island greater energy security and eventually provide the possibility of gas trans- fers from Malta to Italy. In line with the findings, it was agreed that Melita Transgas would foot the bill of the project that in- cludes a 22-inch diameter bi-directional pipeline running a distance of 159km between Gela in Sicily and Delimara. The project was originally slated for commission- ing in 2026 but the latest analysis foresees a possible completion by 2024. A breakdown of capital costs sees €169 million, the largest investment, going into the material sup- plies for both the onshore and offshore sections. The construction of the shore approach in Gela will cost €17.1 million, while the Malta-side ap- proach will cost €5.5 million. The offshore installation of the pipeline will come at an expenditure of €123.7 million. A further €18 million and €9.8 million will be spent on the terminal stations in Gela and Deli- mara, respectively, while engineering and manage- ment have been estimated at €56.1 million. The pipeline will transfer natural gas to Malta for use as fuel in the Delimara power stations. The pro- ject will render the liquefied natural gas terminal, including the floating storage facility at Delimara, useless and allow for the removal of the LNG car- rier from inside Marsaxlokk harbour. Malta agrees with Italy to fund gas pipeline to Sicily