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An agreement has been signed to exchange data & protect confidential data on the development of hydrocarbons. Locality – Cyprus, Vasilikos.
The procedure was made by the Secretary of the Cyprus Foreign Ministry & the Israeli Ambassador on the territory of Cyprus.
Negotiations led to the signing of the abovementioned document. They were conducted by the parties from November 2013 to January 2014. The agreement provides the exchange of confidential intergovernmental information on the volumes of hydrocarbon reserves at each of the sites mentioned therein.
More about the works
Exploration work on the other five licensed sites continues & the first exploration drilling is expected in the III quarter of this year. Moreover, there is the reason to make optimistic forecasts related to the development of oil & gas fields in the exclusive area of Cyprus.
Additional work
The corresponding permission has already been received by Noble Energy.
At the same time, the minister added that exploration works are also carried out in the other five licensed areas & the first exploratory drilling is expected to be carried out in the third quarter of this year.
Prospects
“The Eastern Mediterranean is rapidly becoming a new & very promising region for oil & gas production,” Lakkotripis said. He stressed out the importance of building a plant for liquefying natural gas (LNG) in the area of Vasilikos, which, according to preliminary estimates, could annually process up to 5 million tons of blue fuel.
Referring to the recent results of assessing the prospects for economic development in connection with the construction of the plant, he said that “the government of Cyprus is convinced that the LNG terminal remains the best strategy for moving forward.”
Finally, the minister assured that the LNG terminal could become a center for regional cooperation between the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean & would serve as a direct “bridge” between the region & the EU.