Cyprus issues 2nd offshore drilling license to ExxonMobil
ABC News
ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Energy have expanded their stake in potential oil and gas deposits off Cyprus
NICOSIA, Cyprus -- ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Energy expanded their stake in potential oil and gas deposits off Cyprus by signing a deal with the east Mediterranean island nation Friday for a second exploration license in waters that Turkey partly claims.
Drilling off Cyprus has been a source of tension with neighboring Turkey since 2011, when Texas-based Noble Energy discovered the first natural gas off the ethnically divided island’s southern coast.
Cyprus Energy Minister Natasa Pilides said with the new license, ExxonMobil is expected to start exploration in the first half of next year to get a better estimate of potential amounts of oil and gas.
She added there are “sufficiently hopeful indications” that the geological makeup of the underwater area mirrors that of a nearby spot where ExxonMobil discovered in 2019 a sizable deposit estimated to contain 5-8 trillion cubic feet of gas. The two energy companies are drilling an appraisal well at that deposit to confirm how much gas it holds.
