Block 2
An Exploration License for Block 2 has been in place since January 2013, when the Government of the Republic of Cyprus awarded an Exploration and Production Sharing Contract (EPSC) for the Block to a consortium of Eni Cyprus Limited and Kogas Cyprus Limited. The consortium undertook 2D and 3D seismic surveys in the licensed area to generate new seismic data. Since the initial award of the license, a farm in by Total has taken place. Currently, rights in the license are held by ENI Cyprus Limited (60%) as Operator, KOGAS Cyprus Limited (20%) and TOTAL E&P Cyprus BV (20%).
Block 3
An Exploration License for Block 3 has been in place since January 2013, when the Government of the Republic of Cyprus awarded an Exploration and Production Sharing Contract (EPSC) for the block to a consortium of Eni Cyprus Limited (operator) and Kogas Cyprus Limited. The consortium undertook 2D and 3D seismic surveys in the licensed area to generate new seismic data. Since the initial award of the license, a farm in by Total has taken place. Currently, rights in the license are held by ENI Cyprus Limited (50%) as Operator, KOGAS Cyprus Limited (20%) and TOTAL E&P Cyprus BV (30%).
Block 5
An exploration license for Block 5 was granted in December 2021, to a consortium of ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum. ExxonMobil will be the operator of the license, and the companies will have a participation share of 60% and 40% respectively. A 3D seismic survey of the licensed area to generate new seismic data is currently underway.
Block 6
An Exploration license for Block 6 was granted in April 2017, following the 3rd Licensing Round in the Cyprus EEZ, to the consortium of ENI Cyprus Limited (50%) as Operator, and TOTAL E&P Cyprus BV (50%).
In February 2018 a lean gas discovery named ‘Calypso’ was made in the Block. The Calypso-1 well, which was drilled in 2074 meters of water depth reaching a final total depth of 3827 meters, encountered an extended gas column in rocks of Miocene and Cretaceous age. The Cretaceous sequence has excellent reservoir characteristics. An intensive and detailed data collection (fluids and rock samples) has been executed on the well. Calypso 1 is a promising gas discovery and confirms the extension of the “Zohr-like” play in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Additional studies are being carried out to assess the range of the gas volumes in place and define further exploration and appraisal operations.
In May 2022, the Block 6 consortium spudded an exploration well named ‘Cronos-1’, targeting another prospective gas field in the Block. The drilling operation is currently still underway, and results will be announced upon completion of the drilling program.
In August 2022, the Cronos-1 exploration well, which was completed at a water depth of 2,287 meters, demonstrated the existence of a 260-meter column of natural gas. Based on the extensive analysis of the well data, the reservoir f good to excellent characteristics and contains, according to preliminary estimates, a total amount of natural gas of 2.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf).
With the consortium and the Ministry of Energy already working on ways to expedite and make the most of this new discovery.
Block 7
An Exploration license for Block 7 was granted in September 2019 to the consortium of TOTAL E&P Cyprus BV (50%) as Operator, and ENI Cyprus Limited (50%). 3D seismic surveys have taken place in the licensed area to generate new seismic data.
Block 8
An Exploration license for Block 8 was granted in April 2017, following the 3rd Licensing Round in the Cyprus EEZ, to ENI Cyprus Limited. 2D and 3D seismic surveys have been carried out in the licensed area. Since the initial award of the license, a farm in by Total has taken place. Currently, rights in the license are held by ENI Cyprus Limited (60%) as Operator, and TOTAL E&P Cyprus BV (40%).
Block 9
An Exploration License for Block 9 has been in place since January 2013, when the Government of the Republic of Cyprus awarded an Exploration and Production Sharing Contract (EPSC) for the Block to a consortium of Eni Cyprus Limited and Kogas Cyprus Limited. The consortium partners proceeded with two exploration wells in Block 9, with the Amathusa-1 and Onasagoras-1 wells drilled to a final total depths of 5800 meters and 5485 meters respectively. The wells failed to find exploitable amounts of natural gas.
Since the initial award of the license, a farm in by Total has taken place. Currently, rights in the license are held by ENI Cyprus Limited (60%) as Operator, KOGAS Cyprus Limited (20%) and TOTAL E&P Cyprus BV (20%).
Block 10
An Exploration license for Block 10 was granted in April 2017, following the 3rd Licensing Round in the Cyprus EEZ, to a consortium of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Cyprus (Offshore) Limited (60%) as Operator, and Qatar Petroleum International Upstream LLC (40%).
In February 2019 a lean gas discovery named ‘Glaucus’ was made in the Block. The Glaucus-1 well, which was drilled in 2063 meters of water depth reaching a final total depth of 4200 meters, encountered a gas-bearing reservoir of approximately 133 meters. Based on a preliminary interpretation of the well data, the discovery could represent an in-place natural gas resource of approximately 5 trillion to 8 trillion cubic feet. Additional studies are being carried out to assess the range of the gas volumes in place and define further exploration and appraisal operations.
Glaucus-1 was the second of a two-well drilling program in Block 10. The first well, Delphyne-1, did not encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.
In March 2022, the Glaucus-2 appraisal well was successfully and safely completed. The drilling operations, which included production tests, demonstrated the presence of a gas reservoir with high quality characteristics. The consortium are proceeding with a detailed analysis and evaluation of the collected data, in order to more accurately determine the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the reservoir, as well as the potential options for development and commercialization of the discovery.
In March 2022, the Glaucus-2 appraisal well was completed. The drilling operations, which also included production tests, demonstrated the presence of a natural gas reservoir with high quality characteristics. The consortium will proceed with a detailed analysis and evaluation of the data they have collected, to more accurately determine the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the reservoir, but also the potential options for development and commercialization of the discovery.
Block 11
An Exploration License for Block 3 has been in place since February 2013, when the Government of the Republic of Cyprus awarded an Exploration and Production Sharing Contract (EPSC) for the Block to Total E&P Cyprus B.V. In July 2017 the Onesiphoros West-1 exploration well was spudded, targeting Miocene/Cretaceous subsalt carbonates. This was the first well drilled in the Cyprus EEZ targeting carbonate reservoir in the Cyprus EEZ as a whole. The well confirmed the presence of gas and the presence of carbonates. This was encouraging news for further exploration campaigns taking place offshore Cyprus, including the subsequent Calypso discovery in Block 6.
Since the initial award of the license, a farm in by Eni has taken place. Currently, rights in the license are held by TOTAL E&P Cyprus BV (50%) as Operator and ENI Cyprus Limited (50%).
Block 12
Block 12 was the first block for which an exploration license was awarded in the Cyprus EEZ, with the Government of the Republic of Cyprus awarding an EPSC for the Block to Noble Energy in 2008. In the initial exploration period, Noble acquired new 2D and 3D seismic data and proceeded with an exploration well in September 2011, which resulted to a significant discovery (Aphrodite), with initially estimated gas quantities that ranged from 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf). In 2013 Noble proceeded with appraisal drilling of the Aphrodite field, which confirmed recoverable gas quantities ranging from 3.6 to 6 tcf, with a mean of approximately 4.5 tcf.
Following the appraisal program, the Block 12 licensees declared the Aphrodite field a commercial discovery, and submitted a first version of the Development and Production Plan to the Government of Cyprus, with a focus on LNG facilities in Egypt as the export route for the Aphrodite gas. Following a maturation of negotiations with local and international gas buyers and further iterations of the Aphrodite development plan, an exploitation license was awarded to the Block 12 Contractors in November 2019. This exploitation license, the first which has been awarded in the Cyprus EEZ, has a duration of 25 years. The approved Development and Production Plan which underpins the exploitation license foresees the export of Aphrodite gas from a floating host facility above the field to LNG liquefaction facilities in Egypt via a subsea pipeline.
Since the initial award of the license to Noble, farm-ins to the license have taken place. Currently, rights in the license are held by Noble Energy as an operator (35%), Delek Drilling (30%), and BG Group (now Shell).
