Cypriot authorities have signed an agreement to develop the Aphrodite gas field. Permission granted for 25 years. The consortium includes the US oil and gas company Noble Energy Inc., the British-Dutch association Shell and the Israeli conglomerate Delek – one of the largest companies in the country.
Aphrodite: plans of the Cypriot authorities
The Ministry of Energy, Trade, and Industry is confident that the signing of this agreement will allow the republic to become an alternative supplier of natural gas to the EU. In the future, Cyprus will be able to move into the category of regular suppliers. Currently, the Cypriot authorities are making efforts to organize the transportation of natural gas to European territory from the Eastern Mediterranean.
Following the signed agreement, gas production from the field will begin in 2025. Currently, reserves are estimated at 140 billion cubic meters. The field itself is located off the southern coast of Cyprus at a depth of approximately 1,700 meters. It was opened in 2011. Just 34 kilometers west is the Leviathan field, which belongs to Israel.
During the development of the field, 5 production wells will be made. Gas will first enter the manifold located 3 kilometers above the reservoir. After that, he will enter the field gas pipeline, through which he will reach the floating production base, where he will be stored until subsequent shipment.
About 22.5 million cubic meters will be mined per day. Even before the signing of the agreement, it was planned to use this gas to meet the internal needs of Cyprus, and send a small part of it for export to Egypt using an underwater gas pipeline. However, in 2017, negotiations began with the EU, which changed the plans of the Cypriot government regarding a new field.
Opportunities and reputation of Cyprus
Also, ExxonMobil discovered another natural gas field in Cyprus while drilling a Glaucus-1 well. According to preliminary estimates, its reserves are worth at least € 36.360 billion. Of all the deposits that have been discovered in the world over the past few years, Glaucus-1 is one of the three leaders in terms of size.
A few weeks ago, the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum was held. It was attended by many countries to create a gas region with a common infrastructure that can boast of tremendous capacity and productivity. This step should significantly increase the competitiveness of the Eastern Mediterranean region in the global gas market. Only until the end of 2019, ENI companies from Italy and Total from France plan to drill five new wells in Cyprus for gas production.