ENI will not leave Cyprus while it has a licence says Italian FM - CYPRUS MAIL

May 16, 2020

Peter Michael

Italy assured Cyprus on Saturday that it’s energy giant ENI will not leave the island’s exclusive economic zone as long as it has a licence.

In statements to the press after a foreign affairs committee meeting in parliament, Rome’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said ENI will not abandon the island while its licence is still in date.

Commenting on ENI’s presence in the EEZ, he said: “Right now there are no drilling activities underway due to the pandemic, but we hope they will restart as soon as possible.”

Earlier in the month, energy companies ENI and Total notified the government they are postponing their scheduled gas drilling operations off Cyprus for approximately one year.

The two companies had planned to carry out exploratory drilling at a site dubbed Kronos in block 6 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.

EastMed pipeline will change Europe’s gas landscape - FINANCIAL MIRROR

12th May 2020

Greek Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said the agreement with Cyprus, and Israel to construct an ambitious EastMed gas pipeline constitutes a game-changer for Athens and Europe.

A deal for an undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to mainland Europe was ratified by a Greek parliamentary committee on Monday evening.

In his speech to the standing committee on trade, Hatzidakis referred to the geostrategic importance of the EastMed project, saying it will alter the landscape of gas resources and routes for Greece and Europe.

He said the EastMed project will strengthen Greece’s strategic relationship with Cyprus and Israel while giving a concrete answer to Turkey’s “revisionism and provocativeness” in the region.

Answering to criticism by opposition parties over Italy’s absence from the intergovernmental agreement signed in Athens in January, Hatzidakis said Rome participated in the whole negotiation process and retains its right to sign the agreement in good time.

Cyprus must redirect its energy policy - CYPRUS MAIL

May 10, 2020

Charles Ellinas

The international oil and gas companies (IOCs) have finally confirmed postponement of planned drilling in Cyprus’ EEZ into 2021. It is understood that the energy minister is looking into extending Eni/Total’s contracts to facilitate this.

The press coverage that followed, stated that it is “important to note that the oil companies are not pulling out”, but “they have merely postponed their planned drilling in response to the many problems currently being faced.”

But is such a complacent view justified? Where is this going? Let’s look at the evolving facts.