Italian firm Eni will before the turn of the year drill an appraisal well on its 2022 Cronos discovery on Cyprus’ deepwater Block 6 where it previously gave a 2.5tcf gas-in-place reserves estimate (MEES, 26 August 2022). Should drilling prove successful, the Italian firm envisages tie-back to its 21.5tcf Zohr field on the Egyptian side of the maritime border and on to the Zohr onshore facilities at Port Said. Eni has already been lobbying Nicosia on the merit of these plans which would enable fast-track development, MEES learns.
MEES understands that Eni (50%op) and partner TotalEnergies (50%) will drill Cronos-2 immediately after their drilling of Lebanon’s Qana prospect which is slated to spud later this month, making use of the same Transocean Barents drillship (MEES, 21 July). “If Qana is a flop the drillship will likely make its way to Cypriot waters in October, if a discovery is made it will likely be slightly later,” a well-placed source tells MEES. Total and Eni are partners at seven Cyprus blocks, as well as blocks 4 and 9 (Qana) off Lebanon (Total 35%op, Eni 35%, QatarEnergy 30%). (CONTINUED - 943 WORDS)
