Iain Esau in London
Eni is set to sanction a major new project offshore Cyprus in 2024 and is studying onshore and offshore liquefied natural gas solutions, according to the company’s head of natural resources.
The Italian major is also exploring the possibility of working with US giant ExxonMobil on a joint development of their Cypriot gas resources, although this appears the least likely option at present.
Eni has found at least 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas-in-place in Block 6 offshore southern Cyprus in recent years, resources held in the deep-water Calypso, Cronos and Zeus discoveries that were drilled between 2018 and late 2022.
Zeus-1 was completed late last year, hitting 105 metres of net pay in a carbonate reservoir that hosts between 2 Tcf and 3 Tcf of gas in place. This find came after the Cronos-1 probe found 2.5 Tcf of in-place resources last August, while the play-opening discovery was made by the Calypso-1 wildcat in 2018. Speaking to Upstream last week, Guido Brusco, chief operating officer of Eni’s natural resources business, explained the company’s thinking on how best to tap this gas. He said there are “clearly” two options, “either floating LNG or a tie-in to Egypt”, where Eni operates the Damietta LNG plant.
