US energy major ExxonMobil last week spudded the Elektra wildcat well on Cyprus’ deepwater Block 5, the Middle East Economic Survey reported.
A wildcat is a small-diameter well drilled in a new area where no other wells exist and generally with little or inconclusive information.
The authoritative weekly energy publication said that with pre-drill resource estimates as high as 30 trillion cubic feet (tcf), Elektra is by some distance the most important well to be drilled in the East Mediterranean this year.
Speaking in November, Exxon’s outgoing upstream chief Liam Mallon ranked the East Med alongside Guyana as the two biggest new hydrocarbon provinces globally of the last three decades, the MEES report said.
But, whilst Exxon is the dominant player off Guyana with output set to surge above 1 mln barrels per day, it is a relatively new entrant to the East Med. However, three of the four regional wells it has drilled to date have struck gas.
On Block 10 south west of Cyprus, Exxon’s first ever regional well in late 2018 disappointed with the Delphine flop, but the proceeding Glaucus (Glafcos) well struck gas months later in early 2019, though resource estimates were revised down to 3.2 tcf following a 2022 appraisal well.
And Exxon earlier in January wrapped up drilling its first ever well offshore Egypt with Nefertari-1 also striking gas, with an initial resource estimate of 3-4 tcf, the MEES report added.
Exxon (60%, operator) is partnered by QatarEnergy (40%) on both the Cyprus and Egypt acreage. Exxon plans to follow up Elektra with an exploration well at the Pegasus prospect on Block 10 using the same Valaris DS-9 drillship.
Anything approaching 30 tcf would see Elektra rank alongside Israel’s Leviathan and Egypt’s Zohr as the region’s biggest find and be transformative for the economy of a country of just 1 million.
Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC earlier in January, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said that a significant discovery, “even one smaller than pre-drill estimates” could revive long-stalled plans for an LNG liquefaction plant at Vasilikos on the island’s southern coast.
“Based on the findings, we will evaluate the feasibility of constructing infrastructure for LNG liquefaction in Cyprus to enable exports to Europe.”
However, tie-back to existing Egyptian facilities would likely enable easier and cheaper development: this is the likely option for the two most advanced Cyprus gas projects, Chevron’s 3.5 tcf Aphrodite and Eni’s 2.5 tcf Cronos, the MEES report concluded.
