Cyprus signs $9 billion gas deal with energy majors

(Nicosia) – Cyprus announced it had signed its first natural gas exploitation deal worth $9.3 billion with a consortium comprised of industry giant Shell, US-based Noble and Israel´s Delek.

“Noble Energy, Shell and Delek now have in their hands the first exploitation license granted by the Republic of Cyprus so they can commercialise the deposit,” said Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis, shortly after the agreement was signed.

The 25-year license is for the Aphrodite gas field, the first to be discovered off Cyprus, by Texas-based Noble Energy, in 2011. It is estimated to contain over four trillion cubic feet (over 113 billion cubic metres) of gas.

The signing of the deal comes after the cabinet approved revisions to a production sharing agreement, made at the companies´ request due to a significant fall in hydrocarbon prices since mid-2014.