in-cyprus.com — 11/01/2016
The Energy Ministry has turned down a request from Italian energy giants Edison to conduct seismic surveys in Cyprus waters because the exploration rights are owned by a company that was at one time in a legal dispute with the government.
The reason for the snub – which according to Phileleftheros was made last week – is because seismic surveys are expected to be conducted by vessels owned by Polarcus – a Norwegian offshore geophysical company operating a fleet of seismic research vessels worldwide – which had secured the exploration rights last month.
Back in 2013, Polarcus had sold its seismological vessel ‘Polarcus Samur’ to Turkey which in turn was renamed ‘Barbaros’ and which has been repeatedly violating Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) since then in a bid to conduct its own surveys in waters they claim are their own.
At the time, Cyprus had sent a letter of protest to Polarcus to not play a further role in Barbaros’ sea ventures but when the complaint seemingly fell on deaf ears, Energy Minister Yorgos Lakkotrypis called for legal proceedings to be launched against them.
The latest move by Cyprus to award the exploration rights on the outskirts of Block 12 (which neighbours Egypt’s Zohr field where the latest gas find was made) to Polarcus appears to show that the government and the Norwegian firm have seemingly found a compromise.
Edison had recently reached a deal with Egypt’s General Petroleum Corp prompting Lakkotrypis – who was seeking to avoid creating a diplomatic incident with the refusal – to call his counterpart in Egypt and personally explain the reason why their vessel was refused entry into Block 12.
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