The formulation of a bilateral agreement between Cyprus and Israel on the management of the Aphrodite-Ishai gas fields “appears to be in the final stages,” the state-run news agency said on Thursday.

Citing sources, the Cyprus News Agency said a delegation from Israel is expected to visit the island within January for “intensive negotiations”.

The same sources said the final draft, which includes the Israeli side’s comments, has been sent to Cyprus as was determined during the last meeting the two countries’ delegations which took place in Israel last December.

“Aiming for substantive progress in the process, the arrival of an Israeli delegation is expected in Cyprus for intensive negotiations, an element which indicates that we have reached the final stage of formulating an intergovernmental agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and Israel on the management of the Aphrodite-Ishai reserve,” the sources noted.

The talks and the prospective deal concern how to manage the small part of the Aphrodite field that extends into Israel’s Ishai block and concerns quantities of natural gas that may be located within Israeli economic waters.

The process essentially lays out a mechanism for compensating the owners on the Israeli side.

The two sides aim to reach what’s known as a gas unitisation agreement – combining multiple licenses for a single, shared gas reservoir (a “straddling field”) into one single unit for joint development, treating it as one entity to maximise efficiency, recovery, and economic value – rather than having competing companies drill from separate blocks.

Talks between Cyprus and Israel have been on-and-off for years.

In February last year, Chevron, Egypt and Cyprus signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding agreeing export of block 12 Aphrodite’s gas to Egypt to be liquefied at the Damietta plant.

The Aphrodite reservoir is estimated to hold 3.5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.