FG/Agencies: Cyprus to speed up drilling for natural gas

More natural gas reserves need to be discovered within Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) in order to proceed with plans for a liquefied natural gas terminal on the island, Minister of EnergyYiorgos Lakkotrypis has said.

He said that exploratory drilling in Cyprus’ EEZ to start this upcoming summer, earlier than expected.

Asked to comment on criticism that the implementation of plans for the exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits has been delayed, Lakkotrypis said that "if today we had enough natural gas we would be within the time programme we had initially set several months ago" with regard to creating an onshore gas liquefaction terminal on the island.

The minister said that "Right now, what is important is to find more gas and for this reason we try to accelerate the exploratory drilling procedure within Cyprus’ EEZ."
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