The Aphrodite reservoir offshore Cyprus has a part to play in meeting growing global demand for natural gas, a senior Israeli energy executive has said.

Yossi Abu, CEO of NewMed Energy (formerly Delek Drilling) was quoted by The Times of Israel over the weekend, the report later picked up by Cypriot media.

“Alongside advancing phase two of the Leviathan reservoir, which satisfies the needs of the local and regional economy, we are making progress and significantly advancing the development of the Aphrodite reservoir,” Abu said.

“Global demand for natural gas is increasing, and a large reservoir like Aphrodite could help meet the demand.”

Last week the partners in the Aphrodite gas play began drilling an appraisal well there. Estimated to cost about €100 million, the drill is being carried out by the Stena Forth drillship.

A Navtex issued earlier by Cypriot authorities ‘reserved’ the area around the drill site from April 26 to July 26.

Chevron and their partners, Shell and NewMed Energy agreed in September 2022 to drill a second appraisal well at Aphrodite – as required under their production-sharing agreement – that would also function as a production well.

NewMed Energy, owning a 30 per cent stake in the Aphrodite field, said drilling was expected to take about three months.

According to The Times of Israel, the appraisal well “is part of a work plan for the development of the Aphrodite reservoir. In September, the partners in the gas field approved a budget of about $192 million for the implementation of the drilling and for the performance of pre-feed engineering work needed for the development of the gas field.

“Total cost of the development plan, including the cost of installation of the pipelines to target markets, is estimated at about $3.6 billion.”

The Israeli publication said the partners are seeking to supply natural gas from the Aphrodite field to the domestic market in Cyprus, and to export natural gas by pipeline to other markets, including the Egyptian market, and the global LNG market.

“The supply of natural gas from the Aphrodite reservoir is expected in 2027 at the earliest, according to NewMed Energy.”

In June, Israel and Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union that will see Israel export its natural gas to the bloc for the first time. Under the agreement, Israeli gas could be supplied via Egypt’s LNG plants to the EU.