Turkey warns foreign firms over interest in Block 6

Turkey’s foreign affairs ministry on Tuesday warned energy companies that expressed interest during the third hydrocarbons licencing round in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for block 6 that any exploratory activity is unauthorised as part of the block lies within the Turkish continental shelf.

According to an article published in Milliyet, the Turkish foreign ministry’s spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said that a significant part of the block six lies within Turkey’s continental shelf hence the presence of foreign companies for unauthorised hydrocarbon exploration and extraction activities are not possible.

The government announced last week that the energy ministry received a total of six bids from eight companies for its third licencing round for offshore exploration in blocks 6, 8 and 10 of Cyprus’ EEZ.

US energy giant ExxonMobil filed a bid jointly with Qatar Petroleum for block 10; while a consortium of Italy’s ENI and France’s Total, also applied for block 10, as well as for block 6.

In addition, a consortium of Capricorn, a subsidiary of Scotland’s energy company Cairn, with Israel’s energy companies Delek and Avner, bid for block 8, for which ENI also applied.

Turkey’s claims that part of block 6 lies within the Turkish continental shelf are not new. Last March, Turkey slammed the Cyprus government over the announcement of a third licencing round for natural gas exploration within the island’s EEZ. The Turkish foreign ministry had said that the “Greek Cypriot administration” was challenging the right of Turks on the island at a time when the two sides were negotiating reunification.

Turkey’s claims partly overlap with Cyprus’ blocks 1, 4, 6 and 7. Ankara also supports the breakaway regime’s claims on blocks 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 12 and 13, including within few kilometres from the Aphrodite gas field.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.