Gas from Glaucus, Pegasus fields to be extracted from 2033

New drilling to begin in DecemberNatural gas from the Glaucus and Pegasus gas fields, located in Block 10 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), will be extracted from 2033 onwards, Energy Minister Michael Damianos said on Tuesday, following a meeting between ExxonMobil’s vice president for global exploration John Ardill and President Nikos Christodoulides. “Everything is proceeding according to pre-determined schedules, with a final investment decision expected in 2029 and the first natural gas in 2033,” he said, describing the meeting as “very constructive”. He added that “we are moving forward with new drilling as well, within the year, in December, and we were also informed about new developments in the EEZ itself”. Ardill, meanwhile, confirmed that “a drilling rig will return to Cyprus in December to conduct additional drilling and testing at the Pegasus field”, and said that the drilling work will “help shape the path for the submission of the field’s development and production plan”, which is expected next year, Related Articles • Christodoulides calls for ‘development’ of Cyprus’ natural gas ‘as soon as possible’ • Cyprus gas could fuel Egypt’s LNG comeback • The energy challenges of the next presidency • ExxonMobil’s East Med strategy enters a new phase • Cypriot gas fields declared ‘marketable’ by energy giants • Impact of war on LNG markets “Therefore, we have a significant programme of work ahead of us,” he said. The rights to Block 10 are jointly held by ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy, and both fields were declared to be “marketable” in June, when executives from both corporations met representatives of the Cypriot government at the presidential palace. Declaration of fields as ‘marketable’ a ‘vote of confidence’ Christodoulides at the time described that decision as “a vote of confidence in the prospects of Cyprus’ EEZ, but also in the prospects of the eastern Mediterranean to develop as a potential energy corridor for Europe”. “For us, the fact that ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy are active in our EEZ is one of the most important developments, and I must publicly commend [their] work, professionalism, [and] leadership in the energy sector, and we are very happy and excited to be working with [them],” he said. Ardill, meanwhile, described June’s declaration as “the culmination of eight years of work”, following on from “the award of the blocks in 2017, the discovery in 2019, the second discovery last year”. Asked whether ExxonMobil is considering constructing an onshore liquefaction facility in Cyprus or utilising existing infrastructure in Egypt, he said that the corporation is “currently looking at all the different ways” in which the deposit could be extracted. “We are also considering different proposals which include a facility in Cyprus with a connecting pipeline to Egypt. There are also existing liquefied natural gas facilities … which we can utilise. An alternative proposal is floating LNG, where all the processes are carried out on a floating vessel,” he said. However, he added, the idea of a floating vessel is “usually more demanding in terms of cost”. On this front, he said that “if you have very large resources, you can build onshore LNG plants, as they currently have in Qatar, but that requires larger resources than we have identified here to date”.