An agreement to firm up the establishment of a gas hub in the Eastern Mediterranean was signed in Cairo earlier this week.
This will capitalise on Egypt’s existing hydrocarbon infrastructure and position Cyprus as a gas producer and exporter, the signatories said.
It outlined a comprehensive framework to enable the rapid development of the Cronos gas discovery offshore Cyprus and in particular the Block 6 resources.
Once produced, the gas will be transported to and processed at Egypt’s Zohr facilities before being liquefied at the Damietta LNG plant for export to European markets.
The agreement was signed by Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, George Papanastasiou, developers’ Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, and a TotalEnergies’ representative.
The signing ceremony took place during the opening ceremony of EGYPES, Egypt’s premier energy event.
This agreement was described as a concrete milestone to establish a gas hub in the Eastern Mediterranean capitalising on Egypt’s existing hydrocarbon infrastructure and positioning Cyprus as a gas producer and exporter.
Eni‘s Descalzi, commented: “This agreement paves the way to bring Cyprus' gas to the market in a timely fashion, contributing to energy security and competitiveness of energy supply.
“This project leverages Egypt’s existing infrastructure, including export facilities, which are a key enabler for developments in the region.
“Egypt and Cyprus reaffirm their roles in the emerging energy hub of the Eastern Mediterranean, which is set to play an increasing role in the global gas supply in the near future,” he said.
Discovered in 2022 and subsequently appraised last year, Cronos is estimated at more than 3 trill cu ft of untapped gas.
In addition, Block 6 encompasses further potential resources currently under exploration and appraisal, including the Zeus discovery made in 2022.
Eni said that it had been present in Cyprus since 2013 and operates Block 6 by holding a 50% interest. The Italian energy giant also operates Block 8 and has participating interests in Blocks 7 and 11.
The company operates in Egypt through a wholly owned subsidiary, IEOC and also has a 50% share in the Damietta LNG plant.
It was thought that the FSRU ‘Prometheus’ would be utilised at Damietta to produce LNG from Cronos.
She was originally converted for a Cypriot LNG import project, which became mired in legal battles.
