The US company Chevron, operator of the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus' EEZ, is positive towards the possibility of supplying the Republic of Cyprus with natural gas from the field for power generation purposes, Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Papanastasiou said on Friday. He also spoke about the broad interest by international companies in the new energy plan of the Republic of Cyprus.

Speaking after the end of a meeting that Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, had, at the Presidential Palace with a delegation of Chevron, headed by its Vice President for Exploration Frank Cassulo, in order to examine ways of exploiting Aphrodite as soon as possible, Papanastasiou said that the company presented a preliminary development plan for the field, which will be studied in the coming days and a decision will be taken whether it is something the Republic of Cyprus wants.

"We have indicated to the company the need to supply the Republic of Cyprus with natural gas for power generation purposes, which the company has not rejected, saying it is one of the projects it can consider," he added.

He also said that Chevron will be present at a workshop to be held on Monday morning where energy and technology companies, that have been invited, will discuss what can be done for the Cypriot market.

"We have explained to Mr Cassulo that our priority is for the gas to reach the Republic of Cyprus with the intention of using it in the domestic market to produce electricity from low-cost gas which will be passed on to the electricity price in Cyprus," the Energy Minister stressed, adding that anything more could be used either for liquefaction in Cyprus or another direction, as Chevron may have thought of and have included in the development programme it presented.

"I personally have not yet seen the development plan for the Aphrodite field, we will look at it in the coming hours and days, evaluate it and come back with our comments," he said.

Asked if there is any progress in discussions with Israel on the Yishai issue, Papanastasiou said the Cypriot side has submitted its comments in a document of inter-state agreement between Israel and Cyprus, which was submitted to Israel about two weeks ago, with the aim of receiving preliminary comments during the Minister's visit to the country on June 14 and 15. "I don't think that will be our main topic of discussion, but rather the pipeline from Israel's EEZ to Cyprus' EEZ," he added.

Asked if during the meeting, Chevron's representatives gave an indication that they were positive towards Cyprus' proposal, Papanastasiou said that they were indeed positive, adding that they want to hear in the workshop on Monday what will be said, to hear from the other companies that will be there and possibly draft a new plan, which will also provide for supplying the RoC with natural gas in the quantities it needs for power generation purposes.

Asked whether findings in the Aphrodite field are moving in a positive direction, the Energy Minister said he did not know about the findings exactly, adding that the company might have something in mind from the A3 drilling.

He added that there is already an indication of around 4.2 trillion cubic feet and the A3 drilling will confirm or give a better indication of what is actually there, as it focuses on the central part of the Aphrodite deposit.

Asked if the pending issue with Israel over Yishai should be resolved for Aphrodite's development to proceed, Papanastasiou said the issue is not an obstacle to the development of Aphrodite, adding that as Cyprus wants to be fair in its consultations with Israel and in how it proceeds with the development of the field, it would be preferable that there is no obstacle with Aphrodite before the commercialisation of the field proceeds.

Asked whether there are any indications from the other companies in the Cypriot EEZ that have already identified deposits as to when they will return for confirmation drilling or whether they have drawn up plans to develop the deposits, and more specifically for Blocks 6 and 10, the Energy Minister said that in  statements on Thursday the Vice President of ExxonMobil referred to the company's plans for the Eastern Mediterranean, noting that the Cypriot EEZ is of great interest to the company, which is considering drilling in the area, possibly in Block 5 as the newest block it has undertaken.

"Our information tells us that the examination of the geological data for plot 5 is very promising. You can understand that statements by the Vice President of a global organisation, especially an American one, during which he also mentioned that ExxonMobil is interested in the new energy plan of the RoC, as well as a liquefaction terminal in Cyprus, there is an interest in what we are trying to do through the workshop on Monday, and the meeting in Israel, for gas purposes flowing to Cyprus," he said in this regard.

Asked to comment further on ExxonMobil's Vice President's statement that before the company proceeds with any development or exploitation of the fields it wants to know the full potential of the area, thus priority is given to more drilling, Papanastasiou described this statement as absolutely correct, since if there is not enough gas to be piped in one direction, high cost infrastructure cannot be justified.

Asked whether the workshop on Monday will involve companies located in Cyprus' EEZ or other players, the Minister replied that all companies located in Cyprus' EEZ will participate, some other companies that have been interested in Cyprus' EEZ in the past, some that buy from other companies in Cyprus' EEZ, as well as companies located in Israel's EEZ.

"This particular workshop has attracted the interest of many companies and not only energy companies, but also technology companies, companies that build pipelines, investors interested in the area, as well as Israeli companies, whose interest is very significant, some of which are state-owned," he added.

According to a Ministry announcement, the two-day workshop will be held on 29 and 30 May under the title "The Cyprus Gateway: natural gas to power and liquefaction" and is organised by the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company.

The opening session of the workshop will be addressed by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, George Papanastasiou, who will present the main points of the Government's energy strategy to the participants, representatives of companies operating internationally throughout the gas and electricity chain.

The programme of the workshop includes specialised presentations on individual sectors of the new plans of the Republic of Cyprus by technocrats from the Ministry of Energy, as well as a discussion on the presentations, the statement concludes.