The Ministry announced the arrival of the Tungsten Explorer drillship and that work in Block 6 had begun.
The Franco-Italian consortium is responsible for the drilling, already has a hydrocarbon exploration license for this block.
Eni is operator of the offshore area known as Block 6, with a 50% participation interest.
Total has the remaining 50%.Eni and TotalEnergies dominate Cyprus’ offshore, holding 7 of the 8 exploration licences.
Interest in the eastern Mediterranean gas fields owned by Israel, Egypt and Cyprus has revived due to the crisis in Ukraine, and the resulting need to find other sources to replace the Russian gas on which several European countries currently depend.
Cyprus has joined efforts to end EU energy dependency on Russian gas.
Cyprus has been eager to drive development of its offshore resources but progress has been halting.
High energy prices across Europe – and the world – may provide an opportunity for the country.
