Financial Mirror: Cyprus eyes more natgas drilling, funds to boost SMEs

Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has said the government aims at starting new drilling offshore in the second half of the year by ENI/KOGAS and early next year by French Total, while Noble Energy is expected to proceed with additional exploration to enhance its finds in Block 12, adjacent to Israeli waters.

Lakkotrypis told the annual general meeting of the Famagusta Chamber of Commerce that exploration programmes are underway by all the companies that have been granted hydrocarbon exploration licences in blocks of the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone.

So far Cyprus has signed exploration and production (E&P) contracts with US Noble Energy in block 12, and French Total in blocks 10 and 11. The Italian-Korean joint venture ENI-KOGAS were given concessions over blocks 2 and 3 and 9. Exploration activity in block 12 revealed estimated gross mean resources of 5 trln cubic feet (tcf).
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