Filenews 12 May 2022
The Eni-Total consortium is likely to proceed with its next drilling in the Cyprus EEZ within this month we hope as soon as the drilling rig to be used will have completed its work in Egypt, the Minister of Energy, Natasa Pilidou, said today.
He also said that ExxonMobil – Qatar Energy is starting seismic surveys in the summer, probably in June, for block 5, and possibly some aspects of block 10. At the same time, he noted that "Cyprus is now part of the frame for the EU's energy independence from Russian natural gas".
In her statements and in response to questions from journalists on the sidelines of the Famagusta Business Forum, Ms. Pilidou said that "there are developments on the part of Eni-Total, which joint venture will proceed with its next drilling within this month, we hope as soon as the drilling rig that will be used will have completed its work in Egypt".
She added that "we certainly hope that there will be positive results, but in any case Eni-Total will probably proceed with a second drilling in 2022."
She also said that contacts with the EU are continuous "and Cyprus is now part of the frame for the EU's energy independence from Russian gas, and we hope that we will have developments in that part too very soon".
Asked about the purchase of drilling rigs from Turkey, Ms. Pilidou said that "this does not stop our energy plans". "Certainly the support of the EU and the inclusion of Cyprus, Israel and Egypt in a specific plan for the contribution of natural gas to the EU is a very important development, which we believe will also help accelerate our own program and we hope that we will have developments with the other companies as well," he added.
She also mentioned that "ExxonMobil – Qatar Energy starts seismic surveys in June probably, certainly in the summer, for block 5, and possibly some aspects of block 10 where some additional information is needed. "
"So we see that there is mobility and things are moving in a positive direction", pointed out the Minister of Energy.
