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A consortium led by ExxonMobil and Qatar Energy International has made a new natural gas discovery south of Cyprus—a find that could help diversify Europe’s energy supply and strengthen regional energy partnerships.
The Cypriot government announced Monday that a consortium of ExxonMobil and Qatar Energy International has made a second natural gas discovery beneath the seabed south of Cyprus. The discovery was made at the Pegasus-1 well, located about 190 kilometers southwest of Cyprus at a water depth of 1,921 meters.
No estimates of the quantity of natural gas were provided, but further assessments are planned in the coming months to evaluate the results. Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that ExxonMobil’s vice president, John Ardill, briefed President Nikos Christodoulides about the discovery during a teleconference.
New gas finds in the eastern Mediterranean region are seen as a potential way for Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons by expanding energy partnerships between Cyprus, Greece, and Israel. “Washington and Brussels would be wise to support this hydrocarbon network to develop a greater measure of critical energy independence for Europe's hopeful re-industrialisation," said John Sitilides, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and geopolitical strategist at Trilogy Advisors in Washington.
The ExxonMobil-Qatar Energy consortium holds exploration licences for two blocks within Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone. In 2019, the consortium discovered the Glaucus-1 well in Block 10, which Cypriot authorities estimate contains 3.7 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Pegasus-1 is the sixth natural gas deposit discovered in Cyprus’ economic zone in the last 14 years. Other notable deposits include Zeus, Cronos, and Calypso in Block 6, operated by a consortium of Italy’s Eni and France’s Total. Cronos is estimated to contain 3.1 trillion cubic feet of gas, Zeus 2.5 trillion cubic feet, and Calypso is still under evaluation. The Eni-Total consortium holds exploration rights for four blocks.
The Aphrodite field, discovered earlier and located in Block 12 (operated by Chevron, NewMed Energy, and Shell), is estimated to hold 5.6 trillion cubic feet of gas. Agreements with Egypt foresee gas from the Cronos and Aphrodite fields being sent via pipeline for domestic use or for processing and export at Egyptian facilities.
Cyprus’ Energy Minister George Panastasiou also stated that ExxonMobil, Eni, and Total could potentially partner to jointly develop their gas deposits found in close proximity to each other.
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