Reporting: Dion Rabouin & Michele Kambas; Editing by Andrew Hay
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - Cyprus will move ahead with further licensing for oil drilling after analyzing the results of its most recent exploration, the country's energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said on Wednesday.
Cyprus announced the completion of a third round of licensing for well drilling in which Exxon Mobil, Italy’s ENI and France’s Total won additional blocks offshore. The contracts will be signed on April 5 and 6, but it has not yet been determined which blocks off Cyprus' coast the companies will drill, Lakkotrypis said.
The minister said that while the country's current priority is "exploration, exploration, exploration," he expected much more for Cyprus on the energy front.
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - Cyprus will move ahead with further licensing for oil drilling after analyzing the results of its most recent exploration, the country's energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said on Wednesday.
Cyprus announced the completion of a third round of licensing for well drilling in which Exxon Mobil, Italy’s ENI and France’s Total won additional blocks offshore. The contracts will be signed on April 5 and 6, but it has not yet been determined which blocks off Cyprus' coast the companies will drill, Lakkotrypis said.
The minister said that while the country's current priority is "exploration, exploration, exploration," he expected much more for Cyprus on the energy front.
"Once we have the results of this exploration 2.0 as I called it, then of course there will be a fourth (round) and a fifth and a sixth and I’m sure there will be plenty more," Lakkotrypis told Reuters on the sidelines of Capital Link's Invest in Cyprus Forum in New York City.
