Filenews 6 September 2025
The first optimistic assessment for energy in a long time was made public yesterday by the Minister of Energy, after the meeting at the Presidential Palace of the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides with the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty and the Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources of the country Karim Badawi.
Within 2025, the final investment agreement for the exploitation of the "Kronos" field between Egypt and the ENI and Total/Energies consortium will be finalized, and the first natural gas production is expected within 2027, said George Papanastasiou.
He said that the Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources of Egypt, Karim Badawi, informed them regarding the progress and the technical and commercial agreements that will be signed in the coming days between Egypt and the consortium of ENI and Total/Energies for the exploitation of the Kronos natural gas field in Block 6 of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus.
These agreements, which cover the entire supply chain from the liquefaction of natural gas at the Damietta terminal to its international exports, are in the process of being finalized and official signatures are expected in the coming days.
He added that in this context, but also with the imminent submission of the final development and production plan of "Kronos", the cooperation of the Republic of Cyprus with Egypt on the field is entering a critical phase.
"The political directions have been set and we are proceeding in coordination with the companies with the aim of making a final investment decision by the end of 2025 and the first natural gas production within 2027," he said and stressed that this project will be a milestone for the implementation of the common goal with Egypt for the creation of a new energy corridor in the Eastern Mediterranean. while strengthening the energy security of the region and the European Union.
For his part, the Egyptian minister said that the cooperation between the two countries is focused on the use of the facilities of the Zohr field and Egypt's infrastructure as a platform for the export of Cypriot natural gas to European markets. He added that Egypt is in the process of concluding four key agreements with its partners – ENI and Total/Energies – in order to accelerate the process of making a final investment decision before the end of 2025, as he pointed out, "we have all collectively committed to deliver the first Cypriot gas through Egypt's terminals to Europe by 2027. We are all working together, in unity and cooperation, to achieve this," he added.
