Production Tests at the Aphrodite Well to Start Shortly

Production tests at the Aphrodite A2 well in Cyprus' Block 12 will begin by the end of next week, said Charles Ellinas to Natural Gas Europe. The CEO of Cyprus National Hydrocarbon Company added that the tests will be conducted by Noble with preliminary results to be announced in September. Essential parameters such as the flow rates, the pressure in the field and the chemical composition will be concluded.

The Aphrodite gas field is an offshore gas field off the southern coast of Cyprus located at the exploratory drilling block 12 in the island’s maritime Exclusive Economic Zone. Block 12 is estimated to hold 3 to 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It is located 34 kilometres west of Israel‘s 19 tcF Leviathan gas field. Noble Energy received the concession to explore block 12 in October 2008. 

The cash-strapped island’s hopes currently lie in its waters. Negotiations on the LNG Project Agreement have started with a target to complete them by the end of the year, added Charles Ellinas. The plan is to construct a 3 train LNG terminal with a possibility to extend the terminal to up to 8 production lines to potentially accommodate gas from other fields within Cyprus’ exclusive economic zones and from neighboring Eastern Mediterranean countries. The plan is for the country to be in a position to start exporting gas by 2020.

Aphrodite might not be the Cyprus’ only treasure. Italy’s ENI will start exploratory drilling for natural gas off Cyprus in the second half of 2014, said its chief executive. The company signed exploration and production-sharing contracts with the Republic of Cyprus for Blocks 2, 3 and 9 in early 2013 which encompass an area of 12,530 square kilometres. France’s Total has also signed two production-sharing contracts for Blocks 10 and 11 for offshore exploration with the Cypriot government. The licenses extend over 2,572 square kilometers and 2,958 square kilometers respectively, southwest of Cyprus, in water depths ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 meters. The two companies have expressed an interest in joining the LNG project if their activities prove successful.

Whether Israel and Lebanon will choose to use the island’s services to process and transport their gas to European and East Asian customers remains unsure. Israel has not yet formulated a clear export policy. It is uncertain whether it will choose to build its own liquified natural gas facility and go solo instead. What we know for now is that it also plans to sell gas to neighbouring countries via pipelines. Delek recently announced it plans to export gas to Europe via pipelines to Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority. Lebanon on the other hand has yet to finalise essential pieces of legislation that would allow the country to award contracts and launch its exploration phase. With a constantly changing LNG market, Cyprus is doing all it can to take advantage of a tight window of opportunity as it cannot afford to be late.