Cronos project, which analysts estimate at $2.5B to $3B, would export gas to Egypt for processing into LNG for Europe, with first production expected in 2028
European energy giants Eni and TotalEnergies, 50-50 partners in the Cronos Block 6 gas field development offshore of Cyprus, announced a final investment decision last month. Gas produced, the first for Cyprus, would be exported to Egypt and re-exported as liquified natural gas from Eni’s Damietta LNG facility near Port Said to European Union countries.
The decision affirms the East Mediterranean, particularly Egypt, as a future natural gas hub. Cyprus and Egypt signed a host government agreement in February.
The field, located 185 km southwest of Cyprus and discovered in 2022, holds more than 3 trillion cu ft of natural gas, with first production expected in 2028. The firms did not disclose an estimated project cost, but a Cypriot energy analyst estimated it at $2.5 billion to $3 billion.
Operator Eni will make use of its existing infrastructure offshore Egypt to expedite development and move the gas to market. Four subsea wells will extract some 500 million cu ft of gas per day from the reservoir and subsea pipelines will transport it to Eni’s Zohr gas field offshore Egypt where it will be processed and further transported to Damietta.
The gas will process into about 2.8 million tons per year of LNG, which Eni and TotalEnergies will divide and market separately. The companies are also joint partners in three other Cyprus gas field blocks.
Neither project partner disclosed names of contractors, but Cyprus energy ministry source suggested that the companies carried out most of the pre-FEED and FEED work themselves.
“Cronos fast-track initiative marks a concrete milestone in positioning Cyprus as a European gas producer and exporter, and it unlocks the establishment of a regional gas hub in the Eastern Mediterranean by leveraging Egypt’s existing hydrocarbon infrastructure,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in a statement. “It is furthermore an example of international cooperation and a concrete contribution to the diversification and security of Europe’s gas supply.”
A final investment decision for the Aphrodite gas field near the Cyprus maritime border with Israel, is expected to announced by the end of the year. Operator Chevron now is working on a development plan. ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy also announced earlier this year two offshore Cyprus fields in Block 10, Glavcos and Pegasus, with commercial potential and combined gas resources of about 7 trillion cu m
Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics?
Try Ask ENR, our new smart AI search tool. Ask ENR →
