Damianos ‘delighted’ at Trump involvement in region

Energy Minister Michael Damianos has said that he is “delighted” that United States President Donald Trump has taken an interest in energy production in the region around Cyprus. “I believe that President Trump’s involvement in this is vital, and I think the mark is there already, and we are delighted that we’re able to work with this administration. To be honest, if President Trump wasn’t there with respect to what we’re trying to do, things could have been different,” he told American news website Breitbart. As such, he added, “we’re delighted that President Trump is personally looking into this”. He went on to say that the Cypriot government considers “the US involvement in the area as fundamental for the area’s energy security”, and that he had travelled to the US last month for meetings “because Cyprus is and wants to be a reliable partner for the US”. 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He also made reference to the “3+1” format of diplomatic deliberations between Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and the US, saying that it is “critical for energy production and for security in the region”. From Cyprus’ point of view, he said, “essentially, what we’re putting forward is our position with respect to Cyprus’ strategy on energy, especially with respect to exploration in the [eastern Mediterranean] which is extremely important, and it is proceeding with a fast pace these days”. “It’s actually extremely important to be aligned with our partners, both in the area and globally. With respect to the area, the 3+1 partnership is extremely important in the sense that Israel is an extremely important partner for us both with respect to energy but with respect to everything else as well,” he said. On this front, he stressed that “we’re very close and have very close ties”, before saying of Greece that the country is “an extremely important player for Cyprus as well, and for the US”. “So, have this regional cooperation, the three of us, with the assistance and the help and the coordination and the guidance, sometimes with respect to the US, which is extremely important. So this is, let’s say, along the umbrella of this partnership,” he said. He then added that the purpose of last month’s trip to the US was to “pass the message that Cyprus is here to proceed with the exploration of our hydrocarbons”, with what he described as “significant reserves” of natural gas under the seabed off the island’s coast. Michael Damianos “It is important to be able to get this out,” he said, before pointing out that both US oil giants, Chevron and ExxonMobil, have been in collaboration with the Cypriot government as efforts continue to move towards extracting the natural gas. On this front, he said that “we are proceeding in a fast pace with both of them and have a very good relationship with respect”. Chevron is one of the lead operators in Block 12 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which contains the Aphrodite gas field, while ExxonMobil is one of the two operators of Block 10 of Cyprus’ EEZ, which contains the Pegasus and Glaucus gas fields. Damianos said that “we are proceeding in a good place” regarding progress towards extracting the resources, though no final investment decisions have been made thus far, and added that “I think the important thing to say is that we consider the involvement of these entities as tantamount for us, for the country”. “We consider the involvement of the US in terms of policy and assistance in the area … It is extremely important with respect to energy security. So, I think it’s the involvement of the US both itself, I mean, as a country, but also with respect to Chevron and Exxon being in the area,” he said. He added that “with respect to energy security, it will provide both assistance – both in respect to actually getting the gas out, but also ensuring that we know what to do with it – so it is quite important,” he said. On the matter of what Cyprus plans to do with the natural gas it is to extract, he said that “we will be exporting more than 99 per cent of what we produce”, and that as such, “the idea is that we help the area around, and we provide stability and security in the [eastern Mediterranean] through the secure gas”. He added that a proportion of the gas will be transported to Egypt for liquefaction before being exported from there to Europe. The liquefaction plant in Damietta, Egypt “So, it’s important for the companies, it’s important for Egypt, it’s important for Cyprus, it’s important for the EU, because it will provide more stability for the European market because the European market was reliant up to a few years ago on Russian gas – that reliance goes down,” he said. To this end, he said that between 2028, when the government hopes for the first natural gas to be exported, and “maybe 20 years from now”, there will be “quite a bit of gas to get out”. “We consider that we can be a player of stability in the area, along with partners, and of course with the assistance and the blessing of, I would say, the US, especially through the involvement of Exxon and Chevron, but generally because of this 3+1 partnership, which is extremely important,” he said. The interview was reposted by Trump to his own social media platform, “Truth Social”, on Thursday morning. Damianos had travelled to the US last month to open an “Eastern Mediterranean energy centre”, which he said at the time will provide “significant technocratic support” for energy projects and infrastructure issues.