High-ranking officials from UK major BP and UAE state firm Adnoc flew into Nicosia on Friday 2 August for meetings with energy minister George Papanastasiou and ministry officials.

The pair earlier this year firmed-up their plans of a JV in the East Med following tie-ups in BP’s Egypt assets (MEES, 17 May). A more audacious entry into the region by taking a 50% stake in Israeli firm NewMed Energy, which holds a 45.34% stake at the 1.2bn cfd Leviathan, has seemingly fallen through though, with both sides in March citing geopolitical hurdles (MEES, 15 March). (CONTINUED - 138 WORDS)