Final decisions in relation to the development of the Aphrodite field will be made on November 20, NewMed Energy said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, adding that the consortium partners will consider their possible courses of action on the issue.

According to NewMed, the operator of the field, Chevron, received on November 5 a letter from the Cypriot Ministry of Energy informing it of the granting of an extension to the consortium partners to comply with the approved development plan, "such that the date of the final and binding decision of the Cypriot government regarding the Partners’ request shall be postponed to 20 November 2023, and the date for compliance with the milestone will be postponed by a period of two months (i.e., until 7 January 2024), provided that the Partners confirm their consent to the aforesaid (development plan) and sign an amendment to the Production Sharing Contract in connection therewith".

It is recalled that under the Production Sharing Contract, which was agreed in 2019, the milestone for commencing the techno-economic study (Front-End Engineering and Design) for the field's development was November 7, 2023. However, the company had submitted an amended development plan last May, which was rejected by the Republic of Cyprus last August. Two extensions to the consultation process were subsequently granted with a deadline of 5 November, while the consortium requested a four-month extension to the whole process.

"The Partners in the Aphrodite Field intend to examine the significance of the Cypriot government’s letter and the possible courses of action available to them in relation thereto," NewMed Energy said.

The joint venture consists of Chevron Cyprus (operator) and BG Cyprus (Shell) with 35% and NewMed with 30%.