Cyprus deadline for offshore gas update by Chevron-led Group

One of the partners in a Chevron-led group that has licensing rights to a gasfield off Cyprus said Monday they will submit an updated development plan with a few days. Cyprus had given them a deadline of three months.

Since Chevron tried to change a field development plan for 2019, there have been long-running discussions on the future of the Aphrodite Field, south-east from Cyprus. This plan was agreed upon between Cyprus and Noble, a licence-holder independent energy operator Chevron purchased in 2020.

NewMed Energy (a partner of the consortium) said in a stock filing on Monday to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that the partners would be submitting an updated plan to develop Aphrodite within the next few days.

The Cyprus Minister of Energy allegedly sent a breach notice on August 25, giving partners three months to start the Front-End Engineering Design process (FEED), a step which allows costs and engineering details of a project be assessed.

NewMed stated in its filing that the Cypriot Government would have the right to terminate the contract if it did not comply with the above.

Aphrodite, Cyprus's first offshore gas discovery was made in 2011. It is estimated to contain 3.5 trillion cubic foot (tcf). Cyprus has discovered gas reserves in four other areas that have not been tapped yet.

Chevron has partnered with Israel's NewMed Ltd. and BG Cyprus Ltd. (part of Shell) in this field.

A spokesperson for the Energy Ministry of Cyprus said: "The government's primary concern is to implement Cyprus's energy program within the framework of the contract signed by both parties."

The notification sent to the consortium was consistent with the contract. The consortium has a three-month period to correct the problem based on the notification. (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis; Michele Kambas)

(source: Reuters)