Descalzi confirms Eni’s commitment to drilling offshore Cyprus

Italian oil company Eni has confirmed that it plans to start drilling offshore Cyprus by the end of this year. 

Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, met on Friday in Nicosia with the President of Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiadis.

As explained by Eni in a statement on Friday, the meeting was the opportunity to update Cyprus President on Eni’s activities in the country and jointly discuss about future opportunities.

Descalzi re-confirmed the commitment of Eni to Cyprus hydrocarbon exploration and the Eastern Mediterranean in general and illustrated to the President the forthcoming exploration campaign in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Cyprus.

Namely, Eni and its partner Total are planning to start exploration drilling by the end of this year in Block 6 Cyprus EEZ, just nine months after the signature of the Block Exploration and Production Sharing Contract (EPSC); then Eni and its partner Kogas will start the drilling of the first exploration well in Block 3.

To remind, the Cypriot government last December selected Eni, ExxonMobil, and Total for three offshore oil and gas exploration licenses as part of the country’s third licensing round. Eni was awarded the exploration Block 6 in partnership with Total. In addition, the Italian company was awarded the exploration Block 8 on its own while ExxonMobil won the exploration Block 10 in partnership with Qatar Petroleum.

Eni’s confirmation of Cyprus drilling plans on Friday comes after Anastasiades said in the Le Figaro interview earlier in November that the duo would move ahead with plans to drill in Block 6 despite disappointing results in Block 11.

When it comes to Block 11, Eni acquired a 50 percent participating interest in the offshore block from Total in March but Total remained the operator.

According to Eni, the meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the exploitation of the country’s hydrocarbon resources potentially utilizing existing infrastructures in Egypt where Eni is present as shareholder. Finally, Eni’s CEO also made a review about possible synergies related to energy projects in the East Mediterranean, an area that could represent an important diversification source and route for the future energy supply of Europe.

Offshore Energy Today Staff