Meeting in Houston could be a make or break deal as all parties now have the necessary information from the feasibility study for constructing an undersea pipeline to Egypt.
Noble Energy is the only company licensed by Cyprus to have made a discovery, with an estimated 4.54 trillion cubic feet in its Aphrodite field.
The two parties have also had time to evaluate the effect of the gigantic Egyptian gas findings in the Zohr field that belongs to Italian ENI and which could extend into Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Since the announcement of the Zohr finds on August 30, Lakkotrypis has been in frequent contact with his Egyptian counterpart, Sherif Ismail. According to a Twitter post by Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides, Anastasiades had spoken on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi earlier this month.
Last week ENI CEO Claudio Descalzi suggested that Cyprus gas could reach the European Union market through Egyptian liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.
“I think we can create good synergies with the Egyptian facilities. We have an energy plant that is empty, and so that could be an opportunity for gas that has been found in Cyprus to find (its) way to Europe”, the ENI strongman told reporters in Nicosia.
State-controlled ENI, the biggest foreign oil and gas major in Africa, is currently a partner with SEGAS at the LNG complex in Damietta, Egypt.
“We can create an Eastern Mediterranean hub that can reduce the development costs for Cyprus and Israel, using the existing Egyptian facilities,” Descalzi said earlier this week to the European edition of “Politico”.
“The idea would be to connect subsea fields in Israel and Cyprus to Egypt’s pipeline network”, he said.
BG Group, which is one of the big providers in Egypt, has also expressed interest in buying natural gas for its Idku plant in Egypt. BG recently had a takeover bid from Shell and is currently in consultation with Noble, Delek and Avner – owners of the licence in the Aphrodite field.
BG upgraded its subsea pipeline last year as part of a $1.5 billion investment in the West Delta Deep Marine field, allowing it to “manage the production from additional wells simultaneously and provide the capacity for future potential developments”, a Reuters report stated.
Source: InCyprus
