Greek Cyprus and Egypt are set to sign two key natural gas agreements on February 17 in Cairo, following the completion of negotiations. The agreements concern the commercialization of gas from the “Aphrodite” and “Chronos” fields, which are located in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claimed by the Greek Cypriot administration. Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Energy Minister George Papanastasiou will sign the deals during their visit to Cairo.
These agreements will pave the way for the first-ever export of natural gas from the Aphrodite and Chronos fields to Egypt. The two deals involve several energy companies, including Total from France, Italy’s Eni, Chevron, Shell, and NewMed.
The agreements include plans for a floating production unit at the Aphrodite field and the construction of an independent pipeline to transport gas to Egypt. A technical review is currently underway to determine the investment costs.
The Greek Cypriot energy minister called the deal “most significant,” as it will allow the consortium to finalize the technical details for transporting gas from the Chronos field to Egyptian processing plants. The gas will then be liquefied and exported, including to European markets. Papanastasiou added that the Eni-Total consortium, which holds exploration licenses for seven of the 13 offshore blocks in Cyprus’ economic zone, will decide how to extract and transport the gas by summer 2025.
A recent assessment revealed that the Chronos field holds a larger gas reserve than the Aphrodite field, which is estimated to contain 4.2 trillion cubic feet of gas.
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