Eni makes ‘significant gas discovery’ off Cyprus

Italian oil and gas company Eni has made what it says is a significant gas discovery in the Cronos-1 well located offshore Cyprus.

The well was drilled in Block 6, 160 km off Cyprus coastline, in 2,287 metres of water depth. As reported by Offshore Energy, the well was spud in May, using Vantage Drilling’s Tungsten Explorer drillship.

The Block is operated by Eni Cyprus holding 50 per cent interest with TotalEnergies as a partner.

As informed by Eni in a statement on Monday, preliminary estimates indicate about 2.5 TCF of gas in place, with significant additional upside that will be investigated by a further exploration well in the area.

The well has encountered an important gas column in a carbonate reservoir sequence of fair to excellent properties. The intense data acquisition campaign has shown an overall net pay of more than 260m with intervals owning excellent permeability. Studies on fast-track development options are already ongoing.

Cronos-1 well is the fourth exploration well drilled by Eni Cyprus and the second well in Block 6, following the gas discovery of Calypso-1 in 2018.

Eni emphasised that the gas discovery of Cronos-1 can unlock additional potential in the area and is part of Eni’s successful effort to provide further gas supply to Europe.

Eni has been present in Cyprus since 2013. The company operates Blocks 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9, and has participating interests in Blocks 7 and 11 operated by TotalEnergies.

In a separate statement on Monday, TotalEnergies also said that the drilling of another exploration well on Block 6 is planned, in order to investigate significant additional resource upside and to evaluate the best development options.

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The country’s Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry also confirmed the discovery on Monday, adding that the Tungsten Explorer has now moved on to the target Zeus-1, a new exploration well in Block 6 in order to more accurately estimate the quantities of natural gas.

When it comes to the drillship, it is expected that, following the completion of operations in Cyprus, it will mobilise to West Africa for a contract announced a couple of months ago.

The contract with TotalEnergies has a minimum duration of 225 days with three possible options for extension.