He was addressing the 5th Energy Symposium hosted by the Southeastern Europe Energy Institute and Financial Media Way, in Nicosia.

Lakkotrypis said that if Cyprus wished to complete the puzzle of hydrocarbons, from delineating its EEZ, to discovering reserves, to exploiting them and developing all the relevant services, then the path would be a long one, hard work is needed and “there are no easy solutions.”

“What I can assure you is that we are committed to our goals and we will seek to achieve them with confidence,” he said.

He added that it would be very hard to say how hydrocarbon reserves would be exploited until a clear picture has taken shape on the quantities available. The so called ‘Aphrodite’ reserves, discovered in Block 12 of Cyprus’ EEZ which have been confirmed can be commercially developed only through a direct pipeline to Egypt’s LNG plants in Idku and Damietta for which intensive negotiations are taking place within a difficult international economic environment.

In his address Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority’s (CERA) President Andreas Poulikkas spoke of the authority’s proposal to import natural gas to Cyprus as a permanent solution, one that runs in parallel with using reserves within Cyprus’ EEZ for reasons of security supply and competition but also in order to use natural gas in other areas.

CEO and founder of EC Natural Hydrocarbons Company Ltd Cyprus Charles Ellinas said that very few projects have moved forward to a phase of implementation in recent years due to low prices. He added that in a world with a plethora of energy resources, exporting becomes a more difficult option and he expressed the view that large companies such as ExxonMobil will not go ahead with any projects unless they are profitable.

Source: Cyprus Mail