8-9 trillion cubic feet in Cyprus EEZ’s Pegasus, Glaucus blocks

The Pegasus and Glaucus blocks in Cyprus’ EEZ may contain as much as 8-9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, ExxonMobil officials told President Nikos Christodoulides in New York overnight.

On the sidelines of the UN general assembly, Christodoulides met a delegation from ExxonMobil headed by Vice President John Ardill, who outlined the latest figures.

He stressed that the Cyprus government attaches great importance to ExxonMobil’s presence in its EEZ, adding that “our cooperation is excellent and always based on honesty. I look forward to the assessment of the results for Pegasus, as well as for Block 10.”

Ardill emphasised that progress had been achieved and highlighted the success of the surveys at Pegasus.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis “it was a very important meeting”.

Commenting on the figure presented by Ardill during the meeting, he said “these are very positive developments, very positive messages from ExxonMobil”.

Letymbiotis said Christodoulides also outlined the government’s wish for the acceleration of the extraction as soon as possible to utilise the natural wealth of the Cyprus EEZ, with the primary goal being a positive impact on energy costs for Cypriot consumers.

“This is positive news, we remain committed to the implementation of the energy planning, and the companies active in the Cyprus EEZ – ExxonMobil being among the main ones – are global giants, whose presence constitutes a vote of confidence in the Cyprus EEZ,” he said.

Asked whether the company explained how it would proceed with using these quantities, Letymbiotis said “a very specific discussion took place. In the immediate period ahead further very concrete actions are expected to take place from the company with timetables that will be set regarding the implementation of the necessary steps to exploit the natural gas.

“This is one of the goals that have been set – and I will repeat, because the President has been explicit on many occasions – that this energy planning will be implemented on the basis of the agreed timetables,” he concluded.