Cypriot Aphrodite gas field declared commercial, production planning starts

A natural gas field discovered about four years ago in Cyprus's exclusive economic zone has been declared commercial, setting the stage for planning gas production, the Energy Ministry said on Sunday.

The Aphrodite field, owned by Texas based Noble Energy and the Israeli Delek and Avner energy companies, contains an estimated 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The Ministry statement said that the companies must now submit to the government a development and production plan which will contain their proposal with regard to the method and the timeline extracting, sales and marketing of the gas.

Production and selling can only start after the Cypriot government approves the plan.

"The declaration of commerciality confirms the existence of substantial recoverable natural gas reserves in exploration block 12 of Cyprus' EEZ. It constitutes a significant milestone to Cyprus' transition from the hydrocarbons exploration phase to that of exploitation," the Ministry's statement said.

Noble Energy, the first company to discover natural gas resources offshore Cyprus, said in a press release that along with its partners Delek and Avner, it filed a Declaration of Commerciality for development of the Aphrodite field.

"The Aphrodite field has the potential to supply the Cyprus domestic market and help meet strong regional demand," the company said.

"We are preparing a field development plan for submission to the government, which is the next step towards reaching a Final Investment Decision," it added.

Noble Energy holds a 70 percent working interest in the field, with Delek and Avner Oil Exploration holding 15 percent each.

The two Israeli companies said they had made a proposal for purchasing an additional 19.9 percent of Noble Energy's stake in the field. Endit