Cyprus Mail: Egypt’s Gas Bonanza Sourced in Cyprus’ EEZ

The natural gas in Egypt’s Zohr reservoir originated in geological formations within Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Wednesday.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 7th Mediterranean Oil and Gas Forum in Nicosia, where he had outlined to participants government plans with regard to the launching of a third oil and gas exploration round.

Based on new geological data compiled by the government’s foreign consultants, Lakkotrypis revealed, there is now evidence that the Eratosthenes Seamount, inside the Cypriot EEZ, is the source of the gas that currently lies in Egypt’s massive Zohr play, discovered last summer and estimated to hold some 30 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.
The new data is based on a geological sequencing model that tracks carbonate layers in the bedrock. Carbonate layers had largely been overlooked in the Eastern Mediterranean until Italian energy major ENI applied the model and struck a bonanza at Zohr. MORE