US FIRM Noble Energy said yesterday there are indications of sizable natural gas reserves off the island’s shores, while the government said Cyprus could have its own supply of the fuel by 2016.
The company has a concession to explore for hydrocarbons in a southeast offshore field, known as block 12.
“We don’t have an exact number on the amount of resources available, but the structure that we can tell from seismic looks very favourable to be a sizable quantity,” Terry Gerhart, Noble Energy vice president for international operations, said after a meeting with President Demetris Christofias.
At the same time, Trade and Industry Minister Antonis Paschalides told MPs yesterday that Cyprus could have its own supply of natural gas by 2016.
Cypriot officials believe the block contains some 10 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas.
It neigbours Noble’s Israeli field, dubbed Leviathan, which is expected to yield some 16 tcf of natural gas.
Further east lies Tamar, another field off Israel that holds an estimated 8.6 tcf.
The Cypriot field lies 34 kilometres from Leviathan and 60 from Tamar.
Noble said it hopes to start the drilling in the Cypriot field as early as the fourth quarter of 2011 or possibly early 2012.
“We had a very good meeting with the president this morning. We shared our plans that are moving forth with our drilling operation,” Gerhart said. “Our intention is to accelerate the drilling of the well in Cyprus, block 12.”
Gerhart said the company did not have a specific date for drilling but was working very diligently to accelerate the process.
“There is a lot of activity that has to go before the actual drilling. These are complex deep water wells in several thousand metres of water,” he said.
During the meeting, the Noble officials discussed with Christofias various options of transferring the gas – if found – to Cyprus.
“One involves a pipeline being constructed and bringing the gas to Cyprus,” Gerhart told reporters. “We are very excited about the prospect and very excited about working in Cyprus and hopefully finding some gas and being able to bring that to the Cypriot market.”
The US firm is jointly exploiting the Israeli reserves with Israeli company Delek and “we are looking forward to them being our partner in Cyprus if approved,” Gerhart said.
Delek has proposed to Cyprus to set up a multi-purpose facility that would receive and process gas into LNG, at a site proposed by the Cypriot authorities.
Speaking before the House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday, the trade and industry minister said the data will be analysed three to four months from the day the drilling starts.
“It will determine the quantity, type and quality and this will allow the government to decide on its future handling,” Paschalides said. “If there is a large reserve, the experts’ assurances are that an undersea pipeline can be built to carry the gas to Cyprus.”
If all goes well, the minister said, the Electricity Authority could be receiving natural gas through a pipeline by 2016.
The prospect of potential hydrocarbon wealth appears to have prompted a rethink of Cypriot plans to find a natural gas supplier for its energy needs.
Nicosia had held a competitive negotiation process last year, with Shell making the most competitive offer at around €4.5 billion for 20 years’ worth of supplies.
The deal has not yet been concluded.
