Noble Energy is considering the option of building a terminal in Cyprus in order to provide natural gas for the domestic market and for exports, Vice President Noble Energy Terry Gerhart has said, noting that the estimation for 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet natural gas in Cyprus' block 12 is a very large accumulation of gas.
Speaking here Wednesday after a meeting he held with the President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias, Gerhart said that they had a very good meeting with the President. “We updated him on our progress with the well”, he said and added: “As everyone is aware we drilled a successful well and made an announcement at the end of the year. Somewhere between 5 and 8 trillion cubic feet of gas were found and we look forward to progressing it and bringing it to reality for the Cypriot market”.
He also said that “it is going to take quite a bit of time to analyze all of the data that we have. We are in the process of doing that now. We have brought with us our experts from Houston who updated the Presidential advisors and the Ministers on the progress we have made today”, he noted.
Asked if there is going to be a pipe to the island and if Noble Energy is in favour of building a terminal here on Cyprus, Gerhart said that this one of the options. “We are looking at that, a pipeline from the offshore facility and then to provide gas for the domestic market as well as a potential for an export project an LNG export project”, he stated.
Replying to a question on the next steps of Noble during the next couple of months, Gerhart said that there is a number of data “that we will be analyzing with our experts and factoring that end of the next part of the process which will be an appraisal well that will need to be drilled but obviously, there is a roughly 100 square km of an area that we will going to be analysed and we have got one well that we drilled so far to help project what we have seen. So, there is a needs for more appraisal wells in the future”, he added.
Asked if Noble Energy will be interested in participating in the next licensing round, Gerhart said that this is something that Noble is considering. “At this point we are analyzing the data which is out there. We haven’t made a commitment yet but we are looking at the date and if we see something that looks encouraging we would certainly look forward to participating”, he pointed out.
Finally, asked if he believes that the final estimate will be greater than the one Noble has announced, the company’s Vice President said that 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet is our best estimate at this point based on the information we have today. “It is a world class, very large, a large accumulation of gas”, he concluded.
In December 2011 Cyprus President Demetris Christofias announced that the results of the exploratory drilling in Cyprus' block 12 are positive, describing the discovery of hydrocarbons as historic for the island.
Noble Energy, which did the drilling, discovered 310 feet of net natural gas pay. The drilling reached a depth of 19,225 feet in water depth of about 5,540 feet.
The initial data that emerged from the exploratory drilling and the evaluation checks carried out indicate the existence of a natural gas reservoir ranging from 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) with a gross mean of 7 tcf.
Cyprus is preparing to launch a second licensing round for the 12 remaining blocks of its Exclusive Economic Zone.
Cyprus has signed an agreement to delineate the Exclusive Economic Zone with Egypt and Israel with a view to exploit any possible natural gas and oil reserves in its EEZ. A similar agreement has been signed with Lebanon but the Lebanese Parliament has not yet ratified it.