by New Europe Online/KG On January 27, Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said that French energy major Total will most likely continue its search for hydrocarbons in Cyprus’s offshore fields despite an initial decision to pull out. The decision came after the government consented to extending Total’s search programme by a year, Lakkotrypis said. Total had been granted a concession to survey and drill for oil or gas in blocks 10 and 11, which lie about 85 kilometres off the eastern Mediterranean island’s southern shores. But Total informed the Cypriot government that it was pulling out of the project as per its contract without carrying out any drilling because the company had not located any potential drilling targets. Lakkotrypis said that a legal loophole was found which allowed the extension of Total’s surveying programme in block 11 until February 16, 2016. After that it will be decided whether exploratory drilling is warranted. “The draft agreement is now being formulated by the legal department and is expected to be finalised either this or next week,” Lakkotrypis said. On January 26, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the government was holding out hope that Total can be induced into keeping live its Cyprus operations. The government and the political parties are in agreement about how the matter should be handled, Anastasiades said, but did not give details. In the same vein, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said the dialogue with Total is “ongoing”. He said the fact Total discovered no drilling targets does not necessarily mean that those offshore blocks contain no natural gas or oil. He cited other cases – such as in Israel and Norway – where exploitable reserves were discovered on the fourth or even fifth try. Cyprus is regardless pressing ahead with plans to monetise the island’s proven gas finds in Block 12, licensed to Texas outfit Noble Energy. The government is in talks with Egypt regarding a possible pipeline from the Aphrodite prospect in Block 12. “The discussions are starting to pick up pace. Right now a dialogue is in progress on the technical aspects [of the pipeline]. We hope that very soon this dialogue will move onto the commercial aspect, with the aim of making the most of the Aphrodite field,” said Lakkotrypis. See also: Israel, Greece, Cyprus see a role in EU energy security
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