The Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, and the General Manager of Total E&P Cyprus B.V., Jean-Luc Porcheron, signed on Wednesday an agreement on further exploration works in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus, which Total will undertake in order to further assess the prospectivity of exploration block 11, an official press release said.
The agreement was signed in the framework of the existing contractual relationship between Cyprus and Total E&P, with respect to block 11, it added.
In January the Minister had announced that Total was not able to locate drilling target areas within the blocks 10 and 11 in Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone that it has been licensed to explore. Total said it was discussing with local authorities a potential programme of additional exploration works in the area.
Four years after the initial exploration well in block 12 in Cyprus` EEZ, US Noble Energy will submit its development plan for the Aphrodite well that holds a gross reserve of natural gas amounting to 4.50 trillion cubic feet. Cyprus has already engaged in talks with Egypt to explore ways of exporting natural gas in the neighbouring country.
CNA/KD/MK/2015
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY