Italy seeks peaceful resolve to exploration tension in Cyprus EEZ

Italy wants to find a peaceful solution to the tension created by Ankara within Cyprus international waters, after Eni’s Saipem 12000 drillship platform was stopped short of its target offshore gasfield over the weekend, with its Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano telling his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh that his government wants to find a solution “in accordance with the international law and in the interest of Eni”.

The Italian Foreign Ministry issued an announcement saying “today, the two ministers agreed on the need to take into consideration the national interests of both countries and the concerns expressed by their respective governments, also in view of preserving an atmosphere of trust, which is needed to promote future energy-related projects along with those already in place.”

“Alfano informed Minister Cavusoglu that Italy wished to find a shared solution, in accordance with international law and in the interest of ENI, the countries in the region, and the two Cypriot communities,” the press release noted.

President Nicos Anastasiades said that there is no reason for concern due to the Turkish provocations in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and expressed his satisfaction over the announcement of the preliminary results concerning “Calypso” target in the Cypriot EEZ.

Speaking at an industry event in Cairo on Monday, Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi said an appraisal well would have to be drilled to understand the real volumes of a recent discovery at Calypso 1, which was announced last week. It is believed to hold between six and eight trillion cubic feet.

An analysis of data following a collection of fluids and rock samples revealed that Calypso “is a promising gas discovery and confirms the extension of the ‘Zohr-like’ play” into the Cypriot EEZ, Eni said in a company statement.

Zohr, a supergiant gas field discovered by Eni in 2015 in adjacent Egyptian waters, holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of resources in place.

Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis told the House Committee on Energy, Trade, Industry and Tourism, that the findings in block 6, at the Calypso target, show a natural gas column of very good quality, but more studies need to be made in order to determine the quantity. More weeks are required in order to narrow the range, the Minister added.

The Minister said finally that in October two more drills are expected to take place in block 10 by US energy giant Exxon.