French company Total preparing to drill off Cyprus for natural gas, says ministry source.

French company Total preparing to drill off Cyprus for natural gas, says ministry source. (Famagusta).

Total, along with Italy's ENI and Exxon Mobil, was awarded licenses for hydrocarbons exploration by Cyprus last month.

The ministry source said Total plans to drill in block 11 of Cyprus' exclusive economic zone, which shares a boundary to the south with the giant Egyptian Zohr natural gas well, the largest ever field discovered in the eastern Mediterranean.

"We do not know yet when the drill will start, but we were notified that it will be soon," the source said.

The Zohr discovery by ENI reinvigorated interest in the eastern Mediterranean natural gas as the drilling was done in carbonate layers, whereas previous successful natural gas drilling was carried out in lime layers.

A Total official said recently that the company's interest in Cypriot block 11 was prompted by its proximity to the Zohr discovery, estimated to contain 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Cypriot experts have said that block 11 sits on an undersea mountain range known as Eratosthenis, which was considered to be the source of all hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean.

The news about the impending drilling comes as efforts to solve the Cyprus problem are nearing a peak, with guarantor countries Greece, Turkey and Britain joining in discussions about security arrangements.

Turkey objects to drilling by Cyprus without the active participation of Turkish Cypriots, who pulled out of the government and the state 53 years ago.

The discovery of natural gas in Cyprus' continental shelf by United States-based Noble Energy and nearby discoveries by Israel is considered by analysts to be a factor strongly influencing Turkey's interest in solving the Cyprus dispute.

Cyprus and Egypt signed a framework agreement last August for the transfer of natural gas discovered by Noble Energy via pipe to Egypt's liquefaction terminals. The gas field, about 85 km off Cyprus' southern shores, is estimated to contain 4.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Some analysts say that Turkey counts on joining in on the proceeds from the gas by offering facilities for a gas pipe through its territory to Europe.
An alternative route for the pipe is from the gas fields to Cyprus and Greece and from there to Prindisi in southern Italy.

This route had originally been excluded because of the high cost involved in the project which calls for a pipe 2,000 km long, most of it on the sea bed, capable of a yearly capacity of 12 billion cubic meters of gas.

But recent revised estimates by the European Union lowered the cost to around 5 billion euros, which is considered by specialists to be a viable proposition.

The director general of the energy ministries of Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy are to meet in Brussels on Monday to consider plans for the project.

Their talks will prepare a meeting of the Energy Ministers of the four countries scheduled for next month in Jerusalem.

'EU should not engage in bazaar-style haggling with Turkey': Cypriot House Speaker.

'EU should not engage in bazaar-style haggling with Turkey': Cypriot House Speaker. (CyprusMail).

The EU should not engage in ‘bazaar-type’ haggling with Turkey over the migrant deal due to be thrashed out on Thursday in Brussels, House Speaker Yiannakis Omirou said on Sunday.

He warned that European institutions which were going to go against their own decisions would lose credibility.

Omirou was commenting on Tuesday’s visit by European Council President Donald Tusk to Cyprus, something he said came as a bit of a suprise. Tusk is coming to meet President Nicos Anastasiades ahead of Thursday’s summit as there are fears in Brussels that Cyprus could scupper the migrant deal by sticking to its veto on opening accession chapters for Turkey, which Ankara is demanding as part of a migrant deal.

Omirou urged the European Council to categorically reject Turkish demands, which, he said, were in no way related to the handling of the refugee crisis.

The European Council ought to safeguard its authority and credibility, as well as its own decisions, the House President went on.

When Turkey refuses to comply, the European Council can not exert pressure on the Republic of Cyprus in order to violate own decisions, he said.

Turkey has failed to comply with an EU decision that it recognizes the Republic of Cyprus and opens its ports and airports to Cyprus’ air and sea traffic.


Out of the 35 chapters Turkey must conclude as part of its accession negotiations, Cyprus has unilaterally frozen six, while additional chapters remain blocked by France.

Cyprus, Egypt sign memorandum of Military and defense cooperation.

Cyprus, Egypt sign memorandum of Military and defense cooperation. (Famagusta).

Cyprus and Egypt signed a Memorandum of Military and Defence Cooperation on Tuesday, further enhancing their relations.

The two countries share sea borders in the most southeastern tip of the Mediterranean, where vast quantities of natural gas have been discovered.

The signing of the defence memorandum came during an official visit by Egypt's Minister of Defence and Military Production, Colonel General Sedki Sobhi.

No details of the memorandum were made public, but the two countries share common concerns for the safety of undersea natural gas infrastructure.

Egypt has agreed to buy gas from a natural gas field about 65 km south of Cyprus's shores.

Cyprus and Egypt have strong historical ties and their relations became even closer when Egypt provided Cyprus with guns in the 1960s.

Sobhi said relations became very close since the mid-1950s, when Cypriots were fighting a guerilla war against British colonial rule.

He said talks he had with his Cypriot counterpart Christoforos Fokaides offered an opportunity for consultations and discussion over issues of mutual concern regarding military cooperation.

"The talks were in the framework of joint efforts that serve our interest and protection of our security and our regions security," he added.

Sobhi added that the talks covered challenges facing the two countries "on top of which is the outbreak of terrorism which has become in the recent years a major threat to the Middle East and Europe."

"Talks focused on expanding areas of military cooperation... between our two nations over common issues and challenges threatening safety and security of this region," he said.

Illegal migration was also discussed, he added.

Sobhi said the talks and the defence memorandum are the practical application of the "Nicosia Announcement", a declaration of cooperation between the two countries which also involves Greece.

Fokaides said the agreement is only aimed at promoting bilateral relations and is not hostile to any country.

"It is not directed against any other country... it is an important step towards the deepening of our bilateral relations in the field of security and defence," he said.

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" - Turkey rejects 'new government may affect Cyprus talks.'

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" - Turkey rejects 'new government may affect Cyprus talks.' (Taz).

Turkey has rejected Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades' recent remarks that a new Turkish government may “directly affect” the negotiation talks over the divided island of Cyprus, Anadolu reported.

"We are astounded by the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades' remarks in Turkish media which attempt to relate the negotiation process towards finding a comprehensive solution for the island with the formation of a (new) government in our country," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.

"The Greek Cypriot leader must first and foremost make well use of the current [window of] opportunity to find a solution to the Cyprus issue, and focus his efforts on concluding the negotiations held with Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akinci within the framework of the goodwill mission of the UN general-secretary," the statement read.

"We consider this attempt to question Turkey's commitment to finding a fair, permanent and viable solution to the Cyprus issue an intentional tactical maneuver," the statement said, adding that Turkey would continue to duly perform its international commitments as it always had, and keep contributing to efforts towards resolving the Cyprus issue "at the earliest," and "making the island and East Mediterranean a region of peace, stability and cooperation."

In an interview with Turkish daily Hurriyet Friday, Anastasiades said that "depending on who is going to form the coalition government in Turkey, or whether there is going to be a new election, I think the situation will affect Cyprus”.

The northern area of Cyprus is currently under illegal occupation since the Turkish invasion of 1974.