Government optimistic of swift development of natural gas finds in Block 6 - CYPRUS MAIL

January 9, 2023

Elias Hazou

The government anticipates a speedy development of the natural gas finds in Block 6 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Energy Minister Natasa Pilides said on Monday.

She was speaking to reporters coming out of a meeting at the presidential palace between President Nicos Anastasiades and representatives of TotalEnergies, headed by Laurent Vivier, the French multinational’s Senior Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa.

Queried about the discovery of two natural gas reservoirs in Block 6 – licensed to a joint venture of Total and ENI – Pilides said the government was in talks with the companies.

“It is still too early to have a specific plan, but certainly the intensive activity relating to the actions needed to be taken in 2023 will continue, and I think the whole process will move forward quite speedily.”

Cyprus’ total potential natural gas capacity now between 11.7 tcf and 14 .7 tcf - IN-CYPRUS

23 AUGUST 2022

Annie Charalambous

TotalEnergies TTEF.PA of France and Italy’s Eni ENI.MI’s significant natural gas discovery at the Cronos-1 well off Cyprus raises the Mediterranean island’s total potential capacity between 11.7 tcf and 14 .7 tcf.

This is what Philenews reported on Tuesday, hours only after Eni said preliminary estimates indicate about 2.5 tcf of gas in place, with significant additional upside that will be investigated by a further exploration well in the area.

The island reported its first natural gas discovery, Aphrodite, in 2011, measuring around 4.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and now run by U.S. energy firm Chevron CVX.N.

Monday’s discovery marks the third offshore gas find reported in Cyprus, all of them still untapped.

And it comes as the European Union seeks alternative supply to Russian gas after Moscow’s February invasion of Ukraine.

Eni makes a significant gas discovery offshore Cyprus - ENI

22 AUGUST 2022 - 11:00 AM CEST

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 22 August 2022 – Eni announces a significant gas discovery in the Cronos-1 well drilled in Block 6, 160 km off Cyprus coastline, in 2,287 metres of water depth. The Block is operated by Eni Cyprus holding 50% interest with TotalEnergies as partner.

Preliminary estimates indicate about 2.5 TCF of gas in place, with significant additional upside that will be investigated by a further exploration well in the area.

The well has encountered an important gas column in a carbonate reservoir sequence of fair to excellent properties. The intense data acquisition campaign has shown an overall net pay of more than 260m with intervals owning excellent permeability. Studies on a fast-track development options are already ongoing.

Eni-Total consortium starts exploratory gas drilling off Cyprus - REUTERS

May 23, 2022, 6:09 PM GMT+3

NICOSIA, May 23 (Reuters) - Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) of France began drilling an exploration gas well off the coast of Cyprus on Monday, the island's energy ministry said.

The Tungsten Explorer drillship arrived on location south-west of the island on Monday and started drilling work on the 'Cronos-1' prospect, the ministry said.

Eni Cyprus and TotalEnergies EP Cyprus BV, the local units of the two energy majors, collaborate on the project. Eni is operator of the offshore area known as Block 6, with a 50% participation interest. Total has the remaining 50%.

In February 2018 they reported a gas discovery at the Calypso well, another area of the same block.

Cyprus's offshore exploration programme has faced strong objections from Turkey. The island was divided after a 1974 Turkish invasion, with overlapping claims of jurisdiction extending from land to the sea since.

Reporting by Michele Kambas Editing by David Goodman

Cyprus: ExxonMobil to gauge gas field size in 6-8 weeks - MIAMI HERALD, ASSOCIATED PRESS

OCTOBER 14, 2021 3:07 PM

Menelaos Hadjicostis

NICOSIA, CYPRUS Drilling by ExxonMobil set for late next month to confirm how much natural gas is contained in a sizable deposit off Cyprus' southwestern coast will map out how the fuel will reach potential markets in Europe and Asia, the island nation's energy minister said on Wednesday.

Minister Natasa Pilides says the “significant” drilling at the ‘Glaucus-1’ well inside block 10 of Cyprus’ exclusive zone scheduled to start in 6-8 weeks will determine if the deposit is at the higher or lower end of its estimated size of 5-8 trillion cubic feet (142-227 billion cubic meters) of natural gas.

A higher confirmed quantity would naturally mean greater profits and in turn push exploitation of the deposit up the priority list for ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Petroleum among the different projects they’re currently working on.

ExxonMobil plans to start gas drilling by end of year - CYPRUS MAIL

August 16, 2021
George Psyllides

ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum plan on drilling for gas in an offshore block towards the end of the year, Energy Minister Natasa Pilidou has said.

In an interview with daily Politis, the minister said the two companies planned on drilling an appraisal well in block 10 where natural gas was discovered towards the end of November or early December.

“The experts who will take part in the appraisal drill at the Glaucus [Glafcos] well are already in our country and we are in constant contact with the company concerning the procedures that will be followed, both as regards measures against the pandemic, and the plan, the budget, timeframes, etc,” Pilidou said.

EU extends sanctions framework against Turkey over gas drilling by one year - PLATTS

06 Nov 2020 | 12:43 UTC London
Stuart Elliott, Editor: Alisdair Bowles 

London — The EU Council on Nov. 6 extended by one year its framework for sanctions that can be imposed against those responsible for Turkey's gas exploration work in disputed waters of the East Mediterranean.

The Council first adopted the sanctions framework in November last year.

"The Council today adopted a decision extending for one year, until Nov. 12, 2021, the existing framework for restrictive measures in response to Turkey's unauthorized drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean," it said.

"The EU will therefore maintain its ability to impose targeted restrictive measures on persons or entities responsible for or involved in unauthorized drilling activities of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean," it said.

The sanctions would consist of a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze for persons, and an asset freeze for entities.

In addition, EU persons and entities are forbidden from making funds available to those listed, it said.

The two officials to be placed under sanctions in February were TPAO exploration head Mehmet Ferruh Akalin and deputy exploration director Ali Coscun Namoglu.

US' Noble to adjust work schedule at Cyprus's Aphrodite gas project - PLATTS

29 Jun 2020 | 14:26 UTC London
Stuart Elliott, Editor: Alisdair Bowles

• Progress depends on gas demand, market conditions
• Analysts see more delays to Aphrodite development
• First gas, for supply to Egypt, was set for 2025

London — The development of Cyprus' maiden gas discovery Aphrodite is facing an uncertain future as operator Noble Energy looks to revise the timeline for work at the project.

Discovered in 2011, the development of the 4.1 Tcf field seemed to have finally picked up speed in November last year with the signing of a new gas exploitation agreement between the field partners and the Cypriot government.

A final investment decision by Noble and its partners Shell and Israel's Delek was expected to be taken in 2022, with first gas set to flow in 2025.

Cyprus must redirect its energy policy - CYPRUS MAIL

May 10, 2020

Charles Ellinas

The international oil and gas companies (IOCs) have finally confirmed postponement of planned drilling in Cyprus’ EEZ into 2021. It is understood that the energy minister is looking into extending Eni/Total’s contracts to facilitate this.

The press coverage that followed, stated that it is “important to note that the oil companies are not pulling out”, but “they have merely postponed their planned drilling in response to the many problems currently being faced.”

But is such a complacent view justified? Where is this going? Let’s look at the evolving facts.

2020 ‘a year of gas drillings’ in Cyprus’ EEZ - IN-CYPRUS

December 15, 2019 at 11:44am
Edited by Bouli Hadjioannou

Nine gas drillings are planned in Cyprus’ EEZ in 2020 and early 2021, one more than the total number carried out over the period of January 2010 to December 2019 as Cyprus’ hydrocarbons exploration enters a period of maturity, Petros Theocharides writes for Phileleftheros on Sunday.

The agreement to develop the first gas reserve discovered, that of Aphrodite, shows that Cyprus has also entered the third stage – that of exploitation of hydrocarbons, the paper added.

So far there have been two gas drillings by Noble – Delek at the Aphrodite field in plot 12 – an exploratory one in 2011 and a confirmatory one in 2013 which showed that the quantities were lower than initially estimated.

Aphrodite feels the love - PETROLEUM ECONOMIST

Nicosia, 12 November 2019

Gerald Butt

Cypriot energy minister Georgios Lakkotrypis issues the country’s first exploitation licence to the Aphrodite consortium to export gas to Egypt

The discussion of exactly where the gas discovered back in 2011 in Cyprus' offshore Block 12, by a consortium including US independent operator Noble Energy, would end up has loomed for almost all the 2010s.

At his Nicosia office, the country's energy minister tells Petroleum Economist Middle East editor Gerald Butt that the question has now finally been resolved.

What is now the way ahead for Aphrodite?

Lakkotrypis: The plan is that we will transport the gas vis a subsea pipeline to Egypt, liquefying it at Idku, from where it will be shipped by Shell [another partner, along with Israel's Delek, in Aphrodite] to international markets, primarily Europe. We have spent the past 12 months or more discussing the details of a revised production sharing contract (PSC) and field development plan. So now we have the exploitation licence. First gas will be in 2025.

Why has it taken so long to get gas out of Aphrodite?

Gas has a future but must cut costs, Cyprus could see delay amid EEZ furore - CYPRUS MAIL

October 13, 2019

Dr Charles Ellinas

DURING this week I participated in three important conferences in London, which covered global gas and LNG developments and markets, including developments around the East Med. The key conference was Oil & Money, addressed by the CEOs of Shell, BP, Total, Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, Qatar Petroleum and the Secretary-General of OPEC.

Bob Dudley, CEO BP, summed up the challenges and opportunities facing natural gas. He said that gas can play a vital role in the transition towards cleaner energy, helping to meet energy demand, but it will need to be decarbonised. However, he also warned that “one of my concerns is that gas is being increasingly marginalised, even vilified, and demonized.”

While gas is cleaner than oil and coal, it is still a fossil fuel and is coming under attack from environmentalists who are calling for a rapid shift to renewable energy to prevent global warming. If the oil and gas industry does not propose and support solutions to climate change, the climate activists will dictate the policies of the future.

EastMed gas: Paving the way for a new geopolitical era? - DW

24.JUNE.2019

Sergio Matalucci

The East Mediterranean gas project is often described as an explosive geopolitical initiative that's not without a number of hidden agendas. Sergio Matalucci looks at what's behind the current debates in the region.

Opening the newspapers in Cyprus these days, gas developments pop out as a priority issue. It is one of the most discussed topics in the media and by the local population. There are a number of reasons for this — on economic, political and security levels.

On June 5, the Cypriot government said it has reached a production sharing agreement (PSA) for the development of the Aphrodite field, claimed to be worth a staggering $9.5 billion (€8.35 billion), which is over $11,000 per citizen.

"Enough deals with other countries are marginalizing Turkey from the eastern Mediterranean. They are legal, unlike Turkish actions, but because of Turkey's reactions tensions arise," Zenonas Tziarras, a researcher with the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told DW from his office in Nicosia, located less than 200 meters (656 feet) from the Ledras-Lokmaci checkpoint, which divides the northern and southern parts of the city.

"Cypriot people need hope because they feel weak. They don't have the means to react to Turkish actions or to the results of the 1974 invasion. The natural gas and regional synergies provide some of that hope," added Tziarras.

Scrutinising the Aphrodite gas deal - CYPRUS MAIL

June 9, 2019

Charles Ellinas

This week’s deal with Noble, Delek and Shell divvying up the profits from the Aphrodite gas-field is not quite what it seems at first glance

The good news is that an agreement has been reached between the government and the Noble Energy, Delek and Shell joint venture (JV) on a revised Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the development of the Aphrodite gas-field.

Based on published reports the agreed profit split is now about 57 per cent to Cyprus and 43 per cent to the JV, when the price of oil is $70/barrel – with Cyprus’ share going up when the oil price goes up and down when the oil price goes down. With long-term forecasts estimating the average oil price range to be $60-$70/barrel, there can only be a downside for Cyprus. That’s why the JV was so keen on this renegotiation.

There are also new provisions to ensure development of Aphrodite within a strict timetable, with penalties to the JV if it is not. This of course is what the JV wants too – to develop the project as soon as possible.

Cyprus’ gas export future uncertain, despite discoveries - OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

Jun 3rd, 2019

LONDON – Exploration to date offshore southern Cyprus has proven around 11 tcf of recoverable gas, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Whether the discoveries can be commercialized remains to be seen, said Robert Morris, senior analyst: Caspian and Europe Upstream Oil and Gas.

Cyprus has no domestic gas market only limited potential for development, he pointed out, but there are options for exporting the gas.

One would be through Egypt’s under-used liquefied natural gas (LNG) export infrastructure to the south. This would offer the lowest cost with the fastest time to market and potentially the best netbacks.

But Egypt’s own recent offshore gas finds, including the giant deepwater Zohr field, mean that the LNG facilities are getting busier. This means the earliest for significant spare capacity for Cypriot gas could be 2025 – further if Egypt’s run of successes continue.

Cyprus reaches deal with Noble on modifying gas contract – reports - CYPRUS MAIL

May 30, 2019

The government is said to have clinched a deal with the Aphrodite gas field stakeholders to modify the production sharing contract, with energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis expected to brief political parties next week.

Daily Politis reports that the government has reached an agreement revising the production sharing contract (PSC) with Noble Energy and its joint venture partners, Delek Group and Shell.

The key revision in the PSC will result in redistribution of profit, increasing the share of the joint venture when oil prices are low, but conversely, when global oil prices rise, Cyprus’ share will increase.

The government had pledged to keep the parties in the loop about the talks. The following week the energy minister will be meeting with representatives of the parties to gauge their reaction to the revised PSC.

Gas for Peace - FOREIGN POLICY

MAY 28, 2019, 8:52 PM

MICHA'EL TANCHUM

A virtual gas hub could create real cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The strategic equilibrium that has kept the Eastern Mediterranean relatively calm for the past few years may be about to tip. On May 3, Turkey announced that it would commence natural gas drilling operations off the southern coast of Cyprus, in the exclusive economic zone claimed by the internationally recognized government in Greek-dominated south Cyprus. Ankara argues that it is defending the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the northern half of the ethnically divided island who are the legal co-owners of the island’s natural gas but are precluded from participating in its development. On May 12, Turkey doubled down and announced that it would send a second drill ship into Cypriot waters.

Turkey’s brinkmanship comes in response to attempts by Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel to create a regional energy architecture that will exclude Turkey from the marketing of Eastern Mediterranean natural gas. For example, in 2017 and early 2018, Egypt and Cyprus were in talks about a deal to sell gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe using Egypt’s liquified natural gas plants—which would ensure that the region’s offshore gas bypasses Turkey’s pipelines en route to European Union markets. In February 2018, the Italian energy giant Eni, which in 2015 had discovered Egypt’s massive Zohr natural gas field adjacent to Cypriot territorial waters, announced a significant gas find in Cyprus’s nearby Calypso field.

TEKMOR Note: A virtual hub is a great idea. The most logical place for such a hub is Cyprus indeed. However, placing it in a stretch of land that symbolizes Turkey's invasion, ethnic cleansing & division amounts to nothing less than a Chamberlainian move to appease the beast (not that it would be enough either); the author might as well propose to allow Turkey to get just half the F-35s along with the Russian S-400s. More courageous actions are needed to defend western interests which clearly lie along the Israel, Egypt, Cyprus, Greece axis. 

Cyprus expects first gas output from Aphrodite field by 2025 - CYPRUS MAIL

MAY 4, 2019
Devika Krishna Kumar

Cyprus expects initial natural gas production from the Aphrodite field will begin between 2024 and 2025, Cyprus’ Minister of Energy Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said on Friday, after negotiations with operators and an ownership squabble delayed output.

Cyprus’ Aphrodite was first discovered in 2011, but production has been delayed since as stakeholders Noble Energy, Israel’s Delek Drilling and Royal Dutch Shell renegotiate a production-sharing agreement with the government.

There has been a flurry of successful exploration efforts in recent years that identified natural gas plays in the eastern Mediterranean, where gas output has begun to soar.

Eastern Mediterranean countries including Cyprus, Israel, Egypt and Italy have formed a partnership to deliver more natural gas to Europe and transform the region into a major energy hub.

Lakkotrypis said he will meet with Aphrodite’s stakeholders next week to discuss the revenue sharing mechanisms between the government and the companies, infrastructure plans and the price at which companies will sell the gas.

Cyprus ponders gas monetisation options - PETROLEUM ECONOMIST

Nicosia, 29 April 2019

Gerald Butt

New natural gas discoveries offshore Cyprus have revived the possibility of the island hosting an LNG plant

Cyprus is finally in a position where it can realistically start exploring a number of ways of getting natural gas to market. Seven years after the first discovery in Cyprus' offshore economic exclusion zone (EEZ) — the Aphrodite field in Block 12 (4.5tn ft3 of gas in place) — the island has notched up two more finds.

Last year, an Eni-Total consortium struck gas at Calypso in Block 6 (estimated 3-5tn ft3). The most recent newcomer is Glaucus-1 (5-8tn ft3) in Block 10, discovered by ExxonMobil, partnered by Qatar Petroleum.

Energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, addressing Gulf Energy's Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference in Nicosia in early March, said the "quality of the reservoir in Block 10 allows us to be optimistic about the very high recoverability potential" of the ExxonMobil discovery. Last year, the first well drilled on Block 10 failed to find commercial reserves. With the Glaucos success, "we are waiting for the remodelling or re-calibrating of geological data and will look again at Block 10 targets".

ENERGY: Cyprus gas fields are turning into export grade - FINANCIAL MIRROR

07 March, 2019

Cypriot Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis said the quality of the reservoir found in Block 10 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) allows for optimism that the recoverability will be very high.

The Minister, speaking at the 6th Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference in Nicosia, also noted that more appraisal work is needed by ExxonMobil within the coming weeks.

ExxonMobil discovered huge quantities of natural gas ranging from 5 to 8 trillion square feet, the largest find offshore Cyprus.

Lakkotrypis said the discovery in the “Glafcos 1” well creates prospects to relook at Block 10 targets, adding that “Calypso” and “Aphrodite” fields, indicate the potential of the EEZ. The Minister said that Nicosia was looking forward to the upcoming drilling programme of Eni and Total, waiting at the same time the appraisal well for “Calypso” in Block 6.

Referring to monetization of the discoveries, he said that the Cyprus government has been maturing all of its options simultaneously, with the exception of “Aphrodite” field for which announcements were hopefully expected in the next few weeks.