President Nikos Christodoulides travels to Cairo on Monday to sign a framework agreement on the commercial exploitation of Cyprus’s natural gas reserves through Egypt, setting a target of first sales to Europe by 2027–2028.
The agreement, to be signed in the presence of both presidents, covers the development of gas discoveries in Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone, including the Kronos and Aphrodite fields.
Energy Minister Michalis Damianos will sign on behalf of Cyprus alongside his Egyptian counterpart, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi.
Christodoulides is attending EGYPES 2026 — a major energy exhibition and conference covering Egypt, North Africa and the Mediterranean, running from 30 March to 1 April at the Al Manara International Conference Centre in Cairo.
He will address the opening ceremony and hold a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, at which bilateral relations and regional developments will also be discussed.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Christodoulides said the first discovery within Cyprus’s EEZ was made in 2011 and that 15 years had passed without any commercial exploitation. “We will sign something relevant,” he said. “Our goal — and I believe we are on the right track — is to have the first sale of Cypriot natural gas to Europe via Egypt around 2027–2028.”
Christodoulides will also meet TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné. He will be accompanied in Egypt by Damianos, Presidential Press Office Director Viktoras Papadopoulos, Diplomatic Bureau Director Doros Venezis, and other officials.
Damianos, who arrived in Cairo on Sunday, will separately participate in a ministerial roundtable on “Energy priorities, geopolitical realities and national security” alongside Egypt’s Karim Badawi, Lebanon’s Energy and Water Minister Joseph Saddi, and the European Commission’s Director-General for Energy, Ditte Juul Jørgensen.
The minister will also hold separate meetings with East Mediterranean Gas Forum Secretary-General Osama Mobarez and senior executives from BP, Arcius and ExxonMobil.
