Filenews 17 February 2025 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
An extensive statement – announcement by the Israeli company New Med (15/2/25), which participates by 30% in the consortium of companies that manages the Aphrodite deposit, caused concern yesterday to a wide circle of energy people in Cyprus, but we are informed that it also caused discomfort to the Cypriot Government.
The government says unofficially that the references made in New Med's statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange are not accurate, especially regarding the milestones – timelines agreed with Chevron, which acts as the Operator of the investment on behalf of the companies.
On the government side, there is also dissatisfaction with the many and serious conditions that New Med records emphatically in its statement, regarding the next stages of exploitation of the deposit by the consortium, in which, however, it does not have the "upper hand". This is not the first time that the government has expressed annoyance at what are described as provocative reports and announcements by the Israeli company, which is charged with unwillingness to cooperate in promoting investments in the Aphrodite deposit.
What mainly annoyed representatives of the Cypriot side is mainly the report by New Med that the earliest that the Aphrodite deposit could start to be commercially exploited is in 2031 and under many and difficult conditions. In general, New Med's announcement on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange sends the message that the consortium has not committed -through the amendment of the Development and Production Plan- to a specific date for the completion of the studies and projects and the start of production, but has agreed to carry out the technical studies (preFEED and FEED) and, depending on the results of the studies, to decide whether or not the investment will be made (the Final Investment Decision – FID is determined for 2017, "if and if")...
In short, through New Med's statement it is concluded that there is a tangible result from the agreement to amend the Development Plan only for the consortium and this consists in the cancellation by the Republic of Cyprus of the Notice of Infringement (of the initial agreement) issued against the consortium in 2024 (notice of breach), something that had particularly annoyed the companies. as it caused them problems in their international activities.
As mentioned above, on the Cypriot side, it is emphasized that the milestone of 2031 to which New Med refers does not exist in the amended Development Plan, nor will it be accepted by the Government. However, no information is given on the agreed milestones.
For the cost of €4 billion, officials in Cyprus told Fileleftheros that this assessment was made months ago, but during the negotiations ways to reduce these costs may be possible, something that the Cypriot side considers an achievable goal.
