Georgios Georgiou and Ahmed Feteha
Cyprus and Egypt committed to establishing and maintaining good conditions for building a gas pipeline between the two countries, including the timely issuance of permits, Cypriot Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis told reporters at a signing ceremony in Nicosia. The accord will allow further exploration in the region, Egypt’s Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla said.
Under the plan, gas will flow to Egypt from the Aphrodite field, which was discovered by Noble Energy Inc. and contains an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. Egypt is also nearing an agreement to receive gas from Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan deposits, operated by Israel’s Delek Drilling as well as Noble. Supplies would be directed to LNG plants in Egypt, some 400 miles (645 kilometers) south of Cyprus.
Gas discoveries off Cyprus, Israel and Egypt could create a center of gas production on Europe’s doorstep. The European Union offers an attractive market for the region’s explorers as it moves to diversify supply away from Russia.
Revenue Sharing
The Cypriot government will this month begin renegotiating the revenue-sharing agreement with the consortium operating the Aphrodite field. The consortium had asked for a new deal, arguing that current price levels aren’t high enough to make the project viable.
Egypt used to export gas to countries including Israel and Jordan until a few years ago as production and exploration declined. The country, now an importer, is expected to begin meeting all its needs of natural gas later this year, thanks to production from the Eni-operated Zohr field. It has wider ambitions of once again supplying other countries, and has enacted a new law that allows private companies to import gas and re-export it through the country’s LNG facilities.
- Gas would flow from Aphrodite field to Egyptian LNG plants
- Countries committed to maintaining good conditions for project
Cyprus and Egypt committed to establishing and maintaining good conditions for building a gas pipeline between the two countries, including the timely issuance of permits, Cypriot Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis told reporters at a signing ceremony in Nicosia. The accord will allow further exploration in the region, Egypt’s Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla said.
Under the plan, gas will flow to Egypt from the Aphrodite field, which was discovered by Noble Energy Inc. and contains an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. Egypt is also nearing an agreement to receive gas from Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan deposits, operated by Israel’s Delek Drilling as well as Noble. Supplies would be directed to LNG plants in Egypt, some 400 miles (645 kilometers) south of Cyprus.
Gas discoveries off Cyprus, Israel and Egypt could create a center of gas production on Europe’s doorstep. The European Union offers an attractive market for the region’s explorers as it moves to diversify supply away from Russia.
Revenue Sharing
The Cypriot government will this month begin renegotiating the revenue-sharing agreement with the consortium operating the Aphrodite field. The consortium had asked for a new deal, arguing that current price levels aren’t high enough to make the project viable.
Egypt used to export gas to countries including Israel and Jordan until a few years ago as production and exploration declined. The country, now an importer, is expected to begin meeting all its needs of natural gas later this year, thanks to production from the Eni-operated Zohr field. It has wider ambitions of once again supplying other countries, and has enacted a new law that allows private companies to import gas and re-export it through the country’s LNG facilities.
