Results of Aphrodite drilling expected this August

The confirmatory drilling A3 in the Aphrodite reservoir was completed last week, stated Minister of Energy Giorgos Papadopoulos on Monday, noting that there seems to be positive news.

Responding to questions from journalists at a Green Energy Group event in Nicosia, Mr. Papadopoulos mentioned that the drilling was completed on July 13th and there are some initial but unofficial findings.

"The drilling has been completed, reaching a point that confirms the quantities. There may be some new developments in evaluating the quality of natural gas, but it seems that our news is positive," he said.

He noted that this drilling took place in the center of the reservoir after two previous drillings were conducted, one to the east and the other to the west. "For the first time, drilling was attempted in the center of the reservoir to confirm the quantities and the quality of natural gas, which we were essentially expecting," he added.

He mentioned that although it is confirmatory, it is at a depth that, with slight intervention, can be considered as development drilling of the reservoir. Responding to a clarifying question, Mr. Papadopoulos said that the revised extraction plan for the reservoir mentions the beginning of 2028, but "it could easily be 2027, so you understand that it is good from a technical perspective to know that there is a specific drilling that, if intervened, can become a drilling for development."

When asked about the results of the drilling, he said that they are expected by the end of August. They are also considering sending a response to the operator company, Chevron, regarding the revised development plan, submitted about a month and a half ago, by the end of August. "We have until the end of August to provide our comments on this plan, so these two events, the completion of the drilling and the submission of the development plan, will be something that the Ministry will decide and inform the specific company about," Mr. Papadopoulos said.

Regarding the cooperation with Egypt and Israel, the Minister mentioned that the names of participants in the two technical committees were agreed upon yesterday. He reminded me that there are two committees agreed upon by the Ministers of Energy about a month ago, one for natural gas and hydrogen and the other for the electricity interconnection between the two countries (Cyprus and Israel), and these committees will start their work by the end of this month. The possibility is that there will be announcements about this at the Trilateral Meeting on July 26th, he said. When asked about it, he stated that the objectives that need to be accomplished within a specific timeframe have been agreed upon.

Asked about any developments regarding other reservoirs within Cyprus' EEZ, Mr. Papadopoulos noted that there are reservoirs located a little further south of Cyprus' economic zone, and the fastest one to be developed is likely to be "Kronos," which is essentially managed by ENI. TOTAL is also present in the same reservoir, and it is being utilized at the moment to achieve some kind of rapid development that can generate income, first for the company to recover its expenses and later for the Republic of Cyprus.

[This article was translated from its Greek original]