ENI SpA Chief Exploration Officer Luca Bertelli has expressed the hope that his company will start drilling by the end of the year and appeared optimistic that discoveries similar to Zhor will be made in the blocks within Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone.

Bertelli was replying to journalists` questions on the sidelines of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference which takes place in Nicosia, on Tuesday and Thursday.

The discovery of Zhor has attracted new interest in the exploration also in Cyprus` off shore and the recent round that has been launched attracted new companies in Cyprus, he said.

This is good, he added, “because we have more competition; When you see more companies coming in, maybe there is something to look for.”

“We are confident that we may make some other discoveries similar to Zhor,” he noted.

Asked to estimate the size of the discovery, he said that it is difficult to make estimations before drilling. According to the ENI official “the most important point is to start drilling again.”

Asked if ENI has set the dates for drilling, he said that “we don`t have exact schedule days but our effort is to start as soon as we can.”

“It will require some time depending when the new contract will be signed but we hope to start drilling before the year end,” he noted.