NYTimes: For Cyprus, Gaslight at the End of Tunnel?

If there are any bright spots in the gloom surrounding the economy of Cyprus, one place to look would be about 170 kilometers south of the coastal city of Limassol. There, about 1,700 meters below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, is a potentially lucrative natural gas field called Aphrodite.

Noble Energy, the Houston-based company that found Aphrodite in 2011, so far has drilled only a single exploratory well in the mile-deep water 100 miles south of the island. But based on that early look, the company estimates that the field contains 142 billion cubic meters to 227 billion cubic meters, or 5 trillion to 8 trillion cubic feet, of gas. It is a significant find — potentially worth $45 billion or more at current prices, if it proves extractable. That would be enough to supply Cyprus’s domestic needs for years and turn the debt-strapped island country into an energy exporter.  

“I am certain that gas will be the answer to our future,” said Charles Ellinas, chief executive of the Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company, a state concern that was recently formed to help spearhead development of a Cypriot natural gas industry.  MORE