Moscow reiterates interest for Cyprus natural gas reserves

The interest was expressed during a meeting in Moscow between the Cyprus House President Yiannakis Omirou and Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Yury Sentyurin.

The meeting lasted two hours and was also attended by the members of the parliamentary party delegation which accompany Omirou, as well as by representatives of Russian natural gas companies, NOVATEK and Gazprom Bank.

Omirou arrived in Russia this morning, for a two-day official visit, heading a parliamentary delegation, at the invitation of the Chairman of the State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin.
In a statement following the meeting, Omirou described the meeting as excellent , noting that it was attended by top officials of NOVATEK and Gazprom Bank, which confirms the Russian interest on Cyprus’ reserves.

Rosneft company could not attend the meeting due to busy schedule, however, according to Omirou, it has expressed its interest which was conveyed.

House President said that the Russian side required information as regards the various ongoing procedures and the liquefied natural gas terminal that will be built in Cyprus.

Recently, Houston based Noble began drilling at the A-2 appraisal well location in block 12, which will take 60 to 90 days.

In 2011 Noble announced that exploratory drilling in block 12`s A-1 well revealed an estimated resource of 5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) to 8 tcf, with a mean of 7 tcf. Noble Energy operates Block 12 with a 70 percent working interest.

Delek Drilling Limited Partnership and Avner Oil Exploration Limited Partnership each own 15 percent.

Apart from Noble Energy, Cyprus has also signed contracts with the ENI/KOGAS consortium for hydrocarbons exploration in blocks 2, 3 and 9, as well as with French TOTAL for blocks 10 and 11 in its Exclusive Economic Zone.