Filenews 13 May 2023 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
It was not surprising, as top Israeli state-government officials had mentioned or hinted at it before, but it certainly pleased the members of the government delegation, under President Christodoulides, the clear reference of both President Herzog and Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel favours the creation of infrastructure in Cyprus for liquefaction and export of natural gas.
Government sources claim that Israel wants to keep some options suitable for the next phases of natural gas exploitation in large and smaller deposits in its EEZ, given that this state retains perhaps the last and most important say in the management of its mineral natural wealth and not the companies that manage the deposits. The same sources said that during the talks that President Christodoulides had in Israel on Thursday, the message was clear that the construction of floating – or other – liquefaction infrastructure in Cyprus, even on a small scale, could be exploited for Israeli economic interests, regardless of other processes or agreements that preceded it. In fact, information was requested - and given - by the Cypriot delegation on the possible timetables for the implementation of the new plans.
Israel's positive approach promotes the government's new perception of Cyprus' priorities regarding deposits in Cyprus' EEZ and domestic power generation. Given the time required for conditions to truly mature for the extraction, processing and trading of Cypriot natural gas, it is clear that since the policy of the new Government favours the import of natural gas through a pipeline, for cheaper electricity production, this can initially only be done with gas from the Israeli EEZ. There is already interest from Greek Energean, but it will probably not be the only one on the Israeli side, if the new plans of the Cypriot government go ahead.
And as President Christodoulides recently stated, the priority is to reduce the cost of electricity production through the import of cheap natural gas, to exploit -in the medium term- part of Aphrodite's gas or another deposit for local needs, but also to liquefy quantities in Cyprus for export, so that the huge investments required can be recouped.
The option of transporting Cypriot natural gas to Egypt has not been abandoned, but is probably linked to other fields than Aphrodite, due to their proximity to the infrastructure for the exploitation of the Egyptian Zohr field and other facilities of Egyptian interests.
We are currently lacking funding
It is obvious that what is missing from the energy puzzle that is being set up is funding. And the needs are a few billion. This is one of the main reasons why the Government wants to directly and substantially involve in this discussion the companies that manage blocks in the Cypriot EEZ, as well as the companies operating in Israel's EEZ, but also some others that specialize in the construction of natural gas infrastructure, its transportation and trading, the utilization of new technology in the natural gas sector, etc.
The Ministry of Energy is already intensively preparing the two-day workshop that will probably begin on May 29, with the participation of the companies mentioned above. The invitations have been sent and the interest expressed is duly very high. During the workshop, the Minister of Energy will be given the opportunity to analyze the new design and argue for its viability, as it combines the import of natural gas to produce cheaper electricity for local needs, with liquefaction and export to other markets, at a time when demand is high and prices much higher than a couple of years ago.
They want a solution to the problem with Isiai
Speaking yesterday to CyBC's Triton, the director of the President's Press Office, Victor Papadopoulos, said that during the meeting of the President of the Republic with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, pending issues regarding the Aphrodite and Isai deposits were discussed. He said the two leaders agreed on the urgency of resolving the issue. On the Cypriot side, there is optimism that there will be a possible settlement on the issue.
Papadopoulos also said that issues of cooperation were discussed - with the participation of the Republic of Cyprus - for the exploitation and exploitation of energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
