CYPRUS IS taking the necessary measures to ensure its foray into natural gas exploration does not impact negatively on the environment, said Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides yesterday.
“We are one of the few countries to carry out a strategic and environmental study before beginning the exploration for gas,” he said.
“Our agreement with the company is all about the protection of the environment. We’ve set very strict conditions. Measures will be taken to protect the environment,” he added, in reference to the production-sharing contract signed with Noble Energy.
The Houston-based company has a concession to explore for hydrocarbons in an offshore field in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) south-east of Cyprus, known as Block 12.
Senior Noble executives were in Cyprus this week for meetings with the president and minister, and to attend an Energy Forum hosted by the University of Cyprus and organised by Gulf Intelligence.
“The first thing I discussed with Noble when they came was the environment,” said Paschalides.
According to the US Geological Survey, the Levant Basin, an area which includes the coastal areas near Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Syria, holds an estimated 120 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas.
Should Noble strike gold in Cypriot waters, a pipeline would need to be built to bring the fuel ashore in its raw, gaseous form.
Not far from Cyprus’ EEZ, the US company also has rights to drill at Israel’s offshore natural gas field, Leviathan, along with Israeli company Delek. Drilling in that gas field, believed to be one of the largest gas finds in a decade, has already begun but was abandoned twice already, reflecting the difficulty and uncertainty surrounding deep-water exploration.
According to Reuters, Israel’s Infrastructure Ministry instructed Noble not to resume drilling at its second well in Leviathan last month after the company identified water flowing to the sea floor from the wellbore.
The ministry requested details about the technical mishap from the company as well as an “abandonment plan” for the faulty drilling site which meets safety requirements before approving the drilling of a new borehole.
Israeli paper Haaretz reported that Noble and partners had to abandon drilling at a cost of some $42m. This is the second time in two months a well had to be abandoned, said the paper.
Asked whether Cyprus was prepared to handle any potential risks in deep-water drilling, Paschalides said the strategic study prepared them well, noting that the government has consultants advising them every step of the way.
Environment Commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou said yesterday that the environmental impact assessment on gas exploration was an EU requirement which Cyprus fulfilled.
“This study gave us the tools, guidelines, and all the details one needs to handle gas exploration projects in our zone. It explains what we need to have. We had a legal obligation to carry out the study, which was undertaken by an international company,” he said.
“I hope that the government implements it but I don’t know whether they’ll use government employees or will hire experts from the private sector to supervise the exploration for us,” he added.
Theopemptou noted that supervision of the construction of the Limassol Marina has been undertaken by the private sector, hired by the government.
“Either way, we should have the necessary supervision to protect the seas. We are a tourism island, and need to be extremely careful,” he said.
