Filenews 17 July 2023
The confirmatory drilling of A3 in the Aphrodite field was completed last week, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said, noting that it seems that there will be positive news.
Replying to journalists' questions during a Green Energy Group event in Nicosia, Papanastasiou said that the drilling was completed on July 13 and there are some initial positions although these are unofficial.
"The drilling has been completed successfully, the drilling rig has gone to a point where it confirms the quantities, there will probably be something new after it will be evaluated for the quality of the gas, but it seems that our news is positive," he said.
He noted that this is a borehole that was made in the centre of the deposit, after two previous drillings were made, one to the east, and the other to the west. "For the first time, drilling was attempted in the centre of the field to confirm the quantities and quality of gas that we essentially expected," he added.
Regarding the drilling, he said that while it is confirmatory, it is at a depth which, with little intervention, can also be considered a drilling for the development of the deposit.
Replying to a clarifying question, Papanastasiou said that the revised mining plan of the deposit talks about early 2028, but, "it can easily be done in 2027, so, you understand, it is good from a technical point of view to know that there is a specific drilling which, if intervened, can be drilled for development."
Asked about this, he said that the results of the drilling itself are expected by the end of August, while at the same time they are considering, for the end of August, to send a response to the operator, Chevron, for the revised development plan, which it sent about a month and a half ago.
"We have until the end of August to give our comments on this plan, so these two events, the completion of the drilling, but also the fact that a plan has been submitted for the development of the deposit, will be something that the Ministry will decide, and will inform this company," Papanastasiou said.
Asked about the cooperation of the Republic of Cyprus with Egypt and Israel, the Minister said that the names that will take part in the two technical committees were agreed yesterday.
He reminded that there are two committees agreed between the Energy Ministers about a month ago – natural gas and hydrogen and the other for the electricity interconnection of the two countries (Cyprus and Israel) – and which will start work at the end of this month.
The likelihood is that there will be announcements about this at the Trilateral on July 26, he said, and when asked about this, he said that the goals have been agreed, which they will have to accomplish in a specific timeframe.
Asked if there are any developments regarding other deposits within the Cypriot EEZ, Papanastasiou noted that there are deposits located a little further south of the economic zone of Cyprus, of which, the fastest, is likely to be "Kronos", which essentially, as he said, is under the management company. ENI, while TOTAL is also in the same field, and is currently being exploited so that there is some kind of rapid growth, so that it can generate income, first for the company, to amortize the costs it has incurred, but later for the Republic of Cyprus.
Subsidies for electricity
Asked about DISY's positions on the reinstatement of electricity subsidies due to the heatwave, Papanastasiou said that, although this is a matter for the Ministry of Finance because it concerns finances, it has been discussed extensively with both the Ministry and at the level of the Council of Ministers and the decision taken was not easy.
"I think it's the right direction at this stage because we need to be serious about our finances," he added.
He noted that the horizontal electricity subsidy places a significant burden on the state's treasury, so it goes more specifically to vulnerable groups, while other groups that suffer from the cost of electricity may be included and this will be an issue of announcement in the coming days.
CNA
