On energy, the government says everything is on track. The timetables are holding, a final investment decision on Glaucus and Pegasus is expected in 2029, and first gas in 2033.
What Energy Minister Michael Damianos has been saying in recent days is now being borne out by the companies working the blocks of Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone.
There is no mistaking it: we are finally on the road to delivering the grand plan, putting the country’s natural wealth to work. It has been a long time coming, after years of waiting and delay upon delay.
ExxonMobil’s global head of exploration, John Ardill, made significant announcements on the next steps after meeting President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace. A drilling rig will return to Cyprus this December to carry out additional drilling work and testing at the Pegasus field. That work, it was indicated, will help pave the way for the field’s development and production plan next year.
All this builds on the announcements made earlier this year, when the Glaucus-Pegasus field was declared commercially viable. The company is plainly keeping the Republic of Cyprus systematically informed, at every level, of the progress being made. It was in that spirit that the meeting with the President took place.
So we are moving on to new drilling. It is a significant development, and one that largely confirms the planning is proceeding as it should. That matters a great deal, both for the Republic of Cyprus and for the region. Egypt, after all, is part of the equation too.
For the Republic of Cyprus, building strategic partnerships has always been a vital tool for advancing and delivering our national plans. We are convinced that the Republic’s energy strategy runs through alliances and partnerships. Not only with Egypt, a long-standing ally, but with other states in the region as well, on both natural gas and the electricity interconnection, which we hope will go ahead.
