The Government is waiting for ENI’s thoughts and perhaps a development and production plan for the area “in the coming weeks maybe even days”, Energy Minister, Giorgos Papanastasiou, said on Friday in relation to the developments regarding Kronos 2, the new natural gas reserve in offshore block 6 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.

The fact that the new reserve occurs in an area where other deposits have been discovered, both within and outside the Cypriot EEZ, might facilitate developments in terms of synergies for infrastructure within the Cypriot EEZ, the Minister said.

In his statements at the Presidential after a Cabinet meeting, and, asked if the flaring of the Kronos 2 target meant that good quality natural gas has been found, the Energy Minister said that the drilling, that started at the Kronos 2 target a few months ago, has been completed a few days ago and it was a successful drilling at a depth of 5 km.

A reservoir has been identified, which is believed to be a rich one, he added, noting that, just the fact that “we saw a flame on the platform means that there is enough natural gas” whose quality they want to check, and that's what energy company ENI was doing at the moment. Papanastasiou said that he could not give more information until the company makes its own announcements.

Replying to a question, the Minister said that in block 6 of the Cypriot EEZ, there are also the Kronos-1, Zeus and Kalypso deposits and that Kronos-2 concerns another target in the same well while the Kronos-2 reservoir was a separate deposit.

He noted that from the moment another quantity of natural gas was found in the same well, this means that “the well has started to become of some value”, and that, there should be some indication from the company in the coming weeks or even days as regards its thoughts, such as a development and production plan for the area.

The Minister also explained that, as the blocks complex in the south-eastern region of the Cypriot EEZ has gathered enough quantities of natural gas, perhaps some form of synergy would be required with the other companies operating in the area, namely the Exxon Mobil-Qatar Petroleum consortium, which manages blocks 10 and 5.

In response to a question whether the Government has started to work out a plan as to how to utilise this natural wealth, the Minister reiterated that the discovery of deposits in the seabed was of no value until there was infrastructure, and that this was exactly the whole discussion being held with the companies, for the creation of infrastructure, which the Government wants to be in the Cypriot EEZ. The reason for this, he said, is because Cyprus’ EEZ was the only one in the region lacking infrastructure.

Asked whether this meant that any new fields bolstered Cyprus' case for infrastructure, Papanastasiou said that as Europe searches for new natural gas sources, the Eastern Mediterranean region, and Cyprus in particular, has begun to attract attention. The more the quantities increase, the greater the attention of those who want to buy natural gas, he said.