Supermajors Eni and Total have made a promising gas discovery offshore Cyprus that confirms that the Zohr-like play where Eni found the biggest gas deposit in the Mediterranean offshore Egypt extends into the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone, the Italian group said on Thursday.
Eni has made a lean gas discovery in Block 6 offshore Cyprus, encountering an extended gas column with "excellent reservoir characteristics."
The discovery, named Calypso 1, will need additional studies to assess the range of the gas volumes in place and define further exploration and appraisal operations, Eni said in its statement.
Eni is the operator of Block 6 with a 50-percent interest, while Total is a partner and holds the other 50 percent.
"Cyprus is moving forward with its exploration program and quest to become a #NatGas producer," Georgios Lakkotrypis, Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry & Tourism of Cyprus, said after Eni's announcement today.
Cyprus has boosted efforts to award drilling licenses in its waters, hoping that the geology of the giant Zohr discovery extends into Cyprus's exclusive economic zone. Calypso 1 lies about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Zohr, and according to Eni, the "Zohr-like" play indeed extends into Cypriot waters.
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In August 2015, the Italian group said that it had discovered the biggest ever natural gas field in the Mediterranean-Zohr offshore Egypt-that could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place.
It was the Zohr discovery that triggered Cyprus's third licensing round in its quest to find more gas in its waters.
"This is a particularly positive development because it is the second substantive discovery in the Cypriot EEZ (exclusive economic zone), which increases the reserves of Cyprus in natural gas," Reuters quoted minister Lakkotrypis as saying today.
The first gas discovery offshore Cyprus-the Aphrodite field-was made in 2011.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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