Success was declared during drilling for natural gas in the “Kronos 2” reservoir in block six of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Friday, with the flame above the reservoir having been ignited.

The lighting of the flame, or flaring’, indicates the existence of natural gas under the seabed in the area. It is estimated that the reservoir contains around 2.5 trillion cubic feet.

It is the fourth natural gas reservoir to be discovered in block six, after Glafkos, Zeus, and Calypso.

Italian energy company Eni had described the Calypso reservoir as a “promising discovery”, which “shares characteristics” with the 3,765 square kilometre Egyptian Zohr gas field.

Block six is located around 160 kilometres southwest of Cyprus. Rights to its resources are shared between the block’s managing company Eni, and France’s Total Energies, which both hold 50 per cent shares in the consortium.

Last month, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou had said a terminal to bring the offshore natural gas onshore at Vasiliko is expected to be complete by the end of July.

“We should expect natural gas burning at EAC’s Vasilikos power plant, end of 2024, beginning of 2025,” he said.