Cyprus’ Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said that in 2027, Cyprus’ natural gas will be extracted from under the sea for the first time.
In an interview with Politis Radio, he said that an agreement between the government and the Italian energy company Eni is expected in the near future, which will allow Cyprus to send natural gas from the Kronos reservoir to the Segas liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Egyptian port city of Damietta for liquefaction.
Since the Kronos field and Block 6 of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Cyprus are located near the Zohr gas field in Egypt, which is also managed by Eni, the company will be able to use its infrastructure to deliver Cypriot natural gas to Damietta.
As for the negotiations with Israel regarding the Aphrodite deposit in Block 12 of the Cyprus EEZ, which were the subject of a dispute between the two countries, according to the minister, they are in the final stages and should be completed within the next three months.
He also mentioned Block 5 of the Cyprus EEZ, where drilling operations began on Friday. According to him, the discovery of significant deposits should lead to the completion of the construction of an LNG terminal in Cyprus, but decisions regarding the destination of any discovered gas should be made on a case-by-case basis.
“The deposits in the Cyprus EEZ are very scattered, so it is economically unprofitable for all of them to end up in Egyptian terminals or on a floating terminal that can be built in our country. There must be a better economic solution for each field,” the minister said.
In addition, he provided an update on the Prometheas Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), which will be part of the Vasiliko Liquefied Natural gas (LNG) project.
Papanastasiou said last month that the government aims to complete the construction of the Vasiliko LNG terminal by the end of this year.
Image source: Cyprus-mail.com
https://russiancyprus.news/news/society/first-cypriot-natural-gas-extraction-in-2027-papanastasiou-says/
