Consortium Plans to Develop Aphrodite Gas Field In Cyprus

Israeli energy firm NewMed Energy said that its partners – Chevron and Shell – in the Aphrodite offshore natural gas field in Cyprus have submitted a plan to the Cypriot government for its approval to develop the project at a cost of about $4 billion.

In a filing with Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and Israel Securities Authority on Sunday, the company said that it had updated, in cooperation with its partners, a previous development and production plan for the development of the field, to comply with government instructions.

According to the updated plan, natural gas will be produced and processed from the Aphrodite Basin through the construction of an independent floating production facility that will be located above the basin with a nominal maximum production capacity of approx. 800 MMCF per day.

The Final Investment Decision (FID) for the updated is subject, inter alia, to FEED execution, commercial arrangements associated with the to-be-installed export pipeline, the signing of agreements for the supply of natural gas and fulfilment of the closing conditions in such agreements, regulatory approvals and financing arrangements.

Natural gas will be exported from the floating production unit via a pipeline to the Egyptian transmission system.

Vast Gas Reserves

The Aphrodite field contains an estimated 3.6 trillion cubic feet of gas and is located in Block 12 in the exclusive economic zone, about 170 km off the coast of Limassol in Cyprus, and 30 km northwest of the Leviathan field, in an area where sea depth is 1,700 meters.

The Israeli company explained that the field’s maximum production capacity is estimated at 800 million cubic feet per day, initially through 4 production wells. Natural gas will be exported via pipeline to the Egyptian transportation network.

There have been protracted talks about developing the field southeast of Cyprus since Chevron tried to make changes to the field’s development plan in 2019. The plan was agreed between Cyprus and the licensee Noble, an independent energy company that Chevron acquired in 2020.

According to the Updated Development and Production Plan, production and processing of natural gas from the Field will be accomplished initially through 4 production wells connected to a floating production unit that will be positioned over the Field,

Same Potential

The Aphrodite natural gas field has the potential to have the same transformative effect on Cyprus as Tamar and Leviathan had on Israel, in terms of national energy independence, significant revenues for the state and material environmental improvements.

The Aphrodite natural gas field was discovered by the A-1 well in September 2011. The A-2 appraisal well, drilled in 2013, confirmed approximately 98 BCM of contingent resource with a potential for an additional 26 BCM of prospective resources.

In November 2019, Cyprus granted the partners in Block 12 a production license for 25 years, with an option to extend the term by another 10 years, together with the approval of an outline for development of the reservoir.