Eni Drills New Well Offshore Cyprus As It Looks To Fast-Track Gas Discovery

Eni has completed the drilling of a second appraisal well at the Cronos natural gas discovery offshore Cyprus, estimating additional production capacity as it looks to fast-track development of the field, the Italian energy major said on Thursday.

The production test at the Cronos-2 well showed an estimate of production capacity in excess of 150 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD), which “is instrumental in progressing with the studies to select the best fast-track development option,” Eni said.

“Together with an extensive data acquisition, Cronos-2 underwent a full and prolonged production test that proved the excellent gas deliverability capacity of the discovery,” the Italian company added.

Cronos-2 is the fourth well drilled by Eni in Block 6 – of which it is the operator – following the gas discoveries of Calypso in 2018 and of Cronos and Zeus in 2022.

“Drilling Cronos-2 shortly after the discovery of Cronos confirms the commitment of Eni and its partner TotalEnergies, to progress swiftly towards the selection of the most suitable and economically viable development solution, which will contribute to the supply of gas to Europe and the region,” Eni noted.

The Italian firm also operates Blocks 2, 3, 8, and 9 offshore Cyprus, and has participating interests in Blocks 7 and 11 operated by TotalEnergies.

Cyprus could begin its first-ever production of natural gas as soon as 2026, the Mediterranean country’s Commerce, Industry, and Energy Minister George Papanastasiou told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.

Eni has been increasingly betting on the Mediterranean and Africa to produce and import large volumes of pipeline gas and LNG to replace pipeline gas supply from Russia, which was Europe’s top supplier before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Eni has been particularly active in securing more natural gas supply for Europe from Africa and has fast-tracked projects to meet Europe’s gas demand in the absence of Russian pipeline deliveries.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com