Cyprus gives Chevron time on gas field
NICOSIA, Cyprus — The government of Cyprus has given Chevron an additional six months to come up with a revised plan to develop a sizable natural gas deposit off the island nation’s southern coastline after an earlier plan proposed by the energy company lacked a timetable, an official said Thursday.
Chevron’s development proposal from March 29 for the Aphrodite deposit estimated to hold 4.2 trillion cubic feet of gas “wasn’t considered targeted and was without specific timetables,” the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the deal.
In a letter last Thursday, Cypriot Energy Minister George Papanastasiou asked Chevron for “specific, targeted actions” and a “specific timetable” that would confirm its commitment to developing the gas field.
In January, the Cypriot government and Chevron reached a “mutually beneficial” agreement on how to develop the gas field, ending long-stalled negotiations on plans to extract the gas since its discovery in 2011.
At the time, the Cypriot energy ministry said Chevron affirmed that both sides are in “alignment” regarding the “wider framework of the field’s exploitation.”
Chevron had wanted to send the gas to Egypt through a pipeline, but Cyprus preferred to process it on a floating production facility because it would be more economically beneficial for the island nation and would lend more flexibility to supplying other markets.