POLITICS OMADA NEWS #Giorgos Papanastasiou #Natural Gas #Ministry of Energy
Cyprus is considering a new licensing round for offshore gas exploration as demand remains strong despite global efforts to move away from fossil fuels, the country's Energy Minister George Papanastasiou told Reuters.
As the international agency notes, Cyprus has spoken of several discoveries since 2011 containing approximately 15-16 trillion. cubic feet (tcf) of untapped natural gas - the equivalent of nearly half the annual output of the US, the world's largest producer.
This has piqued the interest of international companies amid uncertainty over supplies from Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the future of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.
"We are in the process of evaluating potential interest," Mr. Papanastasiou when asked about the possibility of a new round of licensing. "When we see some interest, we may actually decide to go ahead with a new licensing round."
There have been significant gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean over the past decade, mainly off Israel and Egypt. Cyprus has 13 offshore blocks, 10 of which are under license to major energy groups, including Eni, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and TotalEnergies.
The blocks under consideration could either be those that have not been licensed, or in which operators may wish to cancel their license, Mr. Papanastasiou said, without offering details.
"If we see indications that some of these plots may be released, we may decide to proceed with a new round of licensing," he noted.
Mr. Papanastasiou, who worked for 40 years at major energy groups before being appointed energy minister in 2022, was recently in Abu Dhabi, where he met with senior officials of the United Arab Emirates giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
The potential of the region continues to arouse interest, the minister added. "We need to develop this wealth ... and that's what we intend to do," he stressed.
Cyprus aims to produce 33% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, up from 19% today. But despite near-year-round sunshine, a lack of energy storage and an aging grid have limited GDP output, especially for solar power.
In the coming weeks, the authorities will launch tenders for solar energy storage facilities that will help achieve these goals, the minister said. "We believe it is possible to achieve these goals." However, he acknowledged that natural gas is attractive. "Natural gas still has a few decades of use left in this (energy) mix."
Papanastasiou said he expects a gas field discovered in 2022 by Italy's Eni and France's TotalEnergies to be the first to come into production around 2027, with another operated by US major Chevron closer in 2029 or 2030.
Source: skai.gr
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