Libya is looking at energy investment possibilities in Cyprus, the country’s top oil official, Shokri Ghanem, said yesterday. The eastern Mediterranean island is widely expected to offer 12 offshore plots for hydrocarbon exploration in a bidding round this year, and is attempting to introduce liquefied natural gas (LNG) into its energy grid over the next five years.
“We are very much interested in looking at the different possibilities of investment in the new round that will be announced in Cyprus,” Ghanem, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, told reporters. The Libyan official is on a three-day official visit to the island.
Cyprus launched its first licensing round for hydrocarbons in 11 offshore blocks in mid-2007, giving exploration rights to one company for one block. Authorities plan a second licensing round at some point this year. The island is exclusively reliant on heavy fuel oil for its power generation but plans to switch to natural gas by around 2014.
(KATHIMERINI, 30/04/2009)