Cyprus is promoting three projects that were selected by the European Commission as projects of common interest (PCIs), because of their benefits to the European energy market, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday.
The president was addressing the 9th Mediterranean Forum on Oil and Gas in Nicosia, telling delegates that recently, two of the projects had secured EU funding. Specifically, EUR 101 mln will be allocated to the CyprusGas2EU project, while the EastMed Pipeline had been awarded EUR 34.5 mln for technical studies. The CyprusGas2EU project aims at allowing the transport of gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe. The EastMed Pipeline aims to transport gas from Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean to Europe via Crete and mainland Greece. Meanwhile, the third project, the EuroAsia Interconnector, a 2,000MW subsea electricity connection between Israel, Cyprus and Greece that is supported by all three governments secured funding of EUR 14.5 mln in February 2017.
In a report in the Cyprus Mail, Anastasiades said that, “we intend to continue exercising Cyprus’ rights as an independent and fully integrated Member State of the European Union, proceeding with our exploration programme as planned”.
He said this was also part of a broader policy in that the discoveries of significant quantities of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as potential future discoveries, could be a driver for stabilisation in the region.
EU’s recent Energy Union strategy has confirmed the Mediterranean as a strategic priority for reducing EU’s dependency on existing energy suppliers and routes, Anastasiades said.
“Our aim remains to support the EU in its diversification efforts, with Cyprus, as an EU member state, having a stable legal and political environment and constituting a reliable partner for both neighbouring countries and oil and gas companies.” It was also necessary to lift the island’s energy isolation, he said.
“Over the past few years we have, in fact, made some remarkable steps towards the realization of our exploration program, which we aspire will soon establish Cyprus as a natural gas producer and a transit country,” he added.
Referring to Turkey that has been harassing exploration vessels within the Cyprus offshore Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Anastasiades said, “we mean it when we say that we want Turkey as our ally. But not as a troublemaker or someone who intervenes in the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus.”
“The best solution for all this is the solution of the Cyprus (problem), but what we need is political decisions on the basis of international and European law and the Law of the Seas,” the president said.
Next on the agenda would be the drilling activities of the ExxonMobil/Qatar Petroleum consortium in block 10, which included two back-to-back exploration wells during the second half of this year, Anastasiades said
Following the third licensing round and the decision to grant hydrocarbon exploration licences for blocks 6, 8 and 10, to ENI/Total, ENI and ExxonMobil/Qatar Petroleum respectively, “we anticipate with eagerness” the completion of the exploration programme of all licensed companies. The second wave of exploration in Cyprus’ EEZ was initiated by the Total/ENI consortium, he said.
After the renewal of its exploration license for block 11, in February 2016, the consortium went ahead with its exploration programme, drilling their first well between June and September 2017. The “Onesiphoros West 1” well resulted in a technical discovery that confirmed the existence of a petroleum system and the presence of a “Zohr”-like, reservoir, the president said.
“A mere two months ago, in January, we also had the completion of the first exploration well in Block 6 by the consortium of ENI and Total. The “Calypso” well encountered an extended gas column with excellent characteristics. This discovery also confirms the presence of the “Zohr”-like play in the Cypriot EEZ,” he added.
