ExxonMobil, QP sign Cyprus drilling deal

A signing ceremony on Cyprus on Wednesday kicked off an ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum (QP) exploration drilling campaign along the island’s southern coast.

The deal with Cyprus will see the two majors drill an exploration well on Block 10 in the first half of 2018. The ExxonMobil-QP partnership came out on top for the block following the December 2016 third offshore bidding round.

“The strategic significance of ExxonMobil’s and Qatar Petroleum’s presence in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus for the first time, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, is immense,” Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said in comments on the deal.

Commenting on the upcoming exploration work, QP President and CEO Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said Block 10 has “good prospects.”

“We think that there is a strong possibility that there is a structure there that could potentially hold hydrocarbons,” AP quoted Al Kaabi as saying.

 

Image: AP, Petros Karadjias