Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister, Neoclis Sylikiotis said on Saturday the government has set out and is steadily carrying out the implementation of an energy strategy which aims to give Cyprus its energy autonomy making it a fundamental precondition for its economy and social development.
Presenting developments in the energy field before the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states, meeting in Paphos, Sylikiotis said the mainstay of the government’s energy strategy is turning Cyprus into a regional, energy centre to gather, process, transport energy resources from the area to European and international markets.
He also emphasized the importance of strengthening the energy safety of Europe, through the creation of a south-eastern Mediterranean corridor to supply European markets with natural gas and to strengthen Cyprus’ close relations of friendship and cooperation with its neighbours.
By building synergies with Israel and other countries in the region, we can turn the Eastern Mediterranean as a new stout player in the global energy market, he added.
Sylikiotis referred to the initiative undertaken by the Cyprus Presidency to organize in Nicosia, in cooperation with the European Commission, a Ministerial conference to examine the safety of offshore activities and the EU’s energy supply.
The meeting, he said, will end with a common declaration where EU countries and the Eastern Mediterranean countries will be invited to join.
To turn actions into words, he said, several important infrastructure projects will have to be constructed, including a natural gas liquefaction terminal that will be based in Cyprus.
The commerce Minister said Cyprus is at a crucial juncture as far as energy matters are concerned, adding “the coastal area of the Eastern Mediterranean can turn into a new natural gas supply corridor for the EU, contributing to strengthening the energy safety of Europe”.
Sylikiotis referred to the estimations of the US United States Geological Survey which notes that the Levantine basis in south-eastern Mediterranean which includes the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon, has hydrocarbon reserves that equal to 1.68 billion barrels of oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Cyprus has signed an agreement to delineate its Exclusive Economic Zone with Egypt and Israel with a view to exploit any possible natural gas and oil reserves in its EEZ. A similar agreement has been signed with Lebanon but the Lebanese Parliament has not yet ratified it.
The first licensing round, which concluded in 2007, resulted in granting concessions to Houston-based “Noble Energy” for exploratory drilling in Cyprus’ EEZ block 12. Noble started drilling in September 2011 and the initial data that emerged from the exploratory drilling and the evaluation checks carried out, indicate the existence of a natural gas reservoir ranging from 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) with a gross mean of 7 tcf.
A second licensing round for companies interested to receive concessions for exploratory drillings in Cyprus EEZ was concluded last May, resulting to bids by fifteen companies and joint ventures. Bids are being currently evaluated by the government.
