Michalis Damianos, Cyprus Minister for Energy, stresses that the Cypriot natural gas now being developed could start flowing to Europe as early as the spring of 2028, something that will help make the European continent more energy independent and also stabilise prices.
He also referred to the latest developments regarding Cyprus’s electricity interconnection with Greece and the entry of the French company Meridiam, following the sustained interest shown by the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Natural gas ‘as soon as March 2028’
European consumers can expect natural gas from an undersea field off Cyprus, which will help meet their energy needs as soon as March 2028, the island nation’s energy minister has said.
Michalis Damianos said that the Eastern Mediterranean is rapidly emerging as an alternative source of energy for European countries, as Russia’s war in Ukraine and turmoil in the Middle East force the continent to seek new supplies.
Damianos said that partners TotalEnergies of France and Italy’s Eni took the final investment decision last month to move ahead with developing the “Cronos” gas field off Cyprus’s southern coast. The project will mark the first time that gas from Eastern Mediterranean fields feeds European markets.
“This is important for Europe right now, because of the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, the fact that Cyprus will be an alternative source of natural gas,” Damianos told the Associated Press in an exclusive interview on Friday.
According to the Eni-TotalEnergies consortium’s timetable, work to build a pipeline from “Cronos” to existing infrastructure at Egypt’s giant “Zohr” gas field, 105 kilometres away, will start later this year and last up to 18 months.
Once completed, the gas will be transported to the processing plant at Damietta on Egypt’s northern coast, where it will be liquefied for shipment to Europe.
‘First natural gas on stream’
Sending gas from “Cronos” to Egypt for processing was the most economically viable option, at a cost of around $2bn (€1.73bn), or half the estimated cost of developing other gas fields in Cypriot waters because of its proximity to existing infrastructure.
Although the agreement provides that all of the more than 3 trillion cubic feet (84.9 billion cubic metres) of gas from “Cronos” will go to Europe, it includes a clause allowing about one-fifth of that volume to be used to cover part of Egypt’s domestic energy needs.
“It is a relatively small reserve,” Michalis Damianos said. “Our revenues as a country will not be huge, so its importance does not lie in the money, but in the fact that we are starting to become producers and to bring our first natural gas on stream.”
“Cronos” is one of six gas fields discovered so far within Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone, off its southern coast. Two of them, “Glafcos” and “Pegasus”, have combined estimated reserves of 6.9 trillion cubic feet (195 billion cubic metres).
ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy, which have been licensed to exploit these fields, say they expect gas from “Glafcos” and “Pegasus” to start flowing by 2033.
“What we can say is that Exxon is the kind of company that keeps to schedules and sometimes even delivers earlier,” Damianos said.
The energy minister said that ExxonMobil plans to expand its exploration activities off Cyprus and is expected to obtain an additional licence to search for hydrocarbons.
Another gas field, the first to be discovered off Cyprus about 15 years ago, is “Aphrodite”, which holds estimated reserves of 5.6 trillion cubic feet (158 billion cubic metres).
Damianos said that the final investment decision by the Chevron-led consortium on developing the field is expected in the summer of 2027. Under the agreement with Chevron, a pipeline will link the field directly to facilities in Egypt in order to cover that country’s domestic energy needs.
Part of the “Aphrodite” field lies in Israeli waters and there is hope that an arbitrator will decide what share Israel is entitled to by next month.
Separate project to connect Israel
Damianos also hailed the entry of French investment company Meridiam as a financier of the “Great Seas Interconnector” project, a power cable that will connect Europe’s electricity grid with that of Cyprus and, eventually, Israel.
This ambitious project will not only put an end to the energy isolation of Cyprus and Israel, but will also be a key building block of the “IMEC Initiative”, a new energy and trade route to the Gulf and India that the European Union is pursuing.
However, the project has now become mired in bureaucratic procedures because its actual cost exceeds the original estimate of $2.2bn (€1.91bn). A European Investment Bank report, expected to be published in the coming months, will provide clarity on its price tag.
This is important for Cyprus because, under the current agreement, Cypriot energy consumers would have to cover up to 63% of the cost of building the cable, which would mean a significant increase in electricity prices.
Additional private investment is being sought to offset that burden on Cypriot consumers, while the possibility of further EU funding is also being examined, Damianos said.
The EU has already committed €658 million ($760 million) to the project.
“This is a very important project for Europe because it links Cyprus, which is isolated, with the European grid. And the idea is to then go on and connect with Israel,” Damianos said.