Cyprus is moving closer to becoming a natural gas exporter for the first time, with production targeted from 2028 as Europe looks for new gas supply sources closer to its borders.
Bloomberg reported that Italy’s Eni and France’s TotalEnergies are nearing a final investment decision on developing the Cronos natural gas field in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said during a teleconference with analysts that the two companies “are working intensively” to reach a final investment decision by the end of July.
The project is expected to add a new, nearby source of natural gas for European markets, which have suffered two serious energy shocks in four years. The war with Iran has disrupted around a fifth of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, while Europe continues to seek alternatives to Russian supplies following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The investment is also a milestone for Cyprus, as it will lead to the first commercial development of the country’s offshore natural gas fields. It comes more than ten years after the first discoveries were made.
Gas will be piped to Egypt, where it will be liquefied and then exported by tanker to European markets from 2028, as President Nikos Christodoulides said in May.
Pouyanné said the project is being developed through a 50-50 joint venture with Eni as operator, giving TotalEnergies access to around 1.4 million tonnes of LNG in Egypt, very close to the European market. He added that this also paves the way for further energy projects in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone.
