French oil and gas group Total and Italy’s Eni plan
to start drilling in a joint exploration block off the coast of Cyprus
by the end of this year or early 2018, President Nicos Anastasiades told
French daily Le Figaro.
Anastasiades, who is
in Paris for an official visit, met Total’s Chief Executive Patrick
Pouyanne on Sunday ahead of his meeting with French President Emmanuel
Macron on Monday.
Anastasiades told Le Figaro
in an interview that Pouyanne said to him in the meeting that the oil
majors would move ahead with plans to drill in Block 6 despite
disappointing drilling results from Block 11.
"Yes,
(block 11) was disappointing in terms of quantity, but the results are
very promising for future drilling. It confirmed the presence of
hydrocarbons in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone, an extension of the
Zohr field in Egypt,” Anastasiades said in the interview.
Eni was awarded the right in December 2016 to be operator of Block 6 with a 50 percent stake in partnership with Total.
Total was the operator of Block 11 in which it agreed a farm-in agreement with Eni for a 50 percent stake.
(Nov. 6, Reuters)