NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The Cypriot energy minister announced Friday that ExxonMobil could collaborate with a group made up of Eni of Italy and Total of France to jointly develop gas deposits they have found near each other off the southern coast of Cyprus.
ExxonMobil is in discussions with the Eni-Total collaboration about collaborating to commercialize their finds, according to Minister George Papanastasiou.
He stated that if more of the hydrocarbon is struck by an exploration well that ExxonMobil intends to drill early next year, possible cooperation may be further accelerated.
Offshore gas resources, according to Cyprus officials, might support Europe’s efforts to find alternative energy supplies in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The comments were made by Papanastasiou following a meeting between Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and John Ardill, vice president for global exploration at ExxonMobil, in Nicosia.
ExxonMobil s new well, codenamed Pegasus, will be dug near theexisting Glaucus depositwhich is expected to contain 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet of gas inside an area for which the corporation and its partner Qatar Petroleum hold development licenses.
Block 10 is located just south of Block 6, where the Eni-Total cooperation found the Cronos deposit, which is thought to contain 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.
According to Papanastasiou, if the Glaucus deposit is discovered to have sufficient gas reserves, some kind of infrastructure may connect it to the neighboring Pegasus.
In addition, ExxonMobil plans to drill a new exploration well in Block 5, which is located west of Block 6 and north of Block 10, in January of next year. This well will be called Electra.
After an evaluation of the recently drilled wells is finished by the middle of next year, Ardill stated that ExxonMobil will consider various development alternatives.
According to Papanastasiou, these alternatives might involve converting the gas into liquid form using a floating installation atop the wells or moving the gas to an onshore facility in Cyprus for processing in order to meet local energy demands or export overseas.
Two blocks are under the exploration licenses of ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum, seven blocks are under the Eni-Total consortium, and one is under a Chevron-Shell cooperation.
Regarding exploration permits inside Cyprus’ offshore exclusive economic zone, Christodoulides stated last week that Cypriot officials are in preliminary discussions with a number of unnamed energy companies from Persian Gulf governments.
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