Georgios Lakkotrypis

ExxonMobil's crucial drilling plans to confirm a large gas deposit south of Cyprus have been put on hold, with a local media report citing delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Philenews, verification drilling that was scheduled to take place in Block 10 of Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone has been pushed back to September 2021.

Αs Turkish President Recep Tayyip was declaring to  members of his AK Party that Greece has resigned itself to Ankara's geopolitical designs in the Mediterranean, Cyprus' Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis told an audience at the Greek foreign ministry that his country will move forward with its hydrocarbons drilling plans in its exclusive economic zone.

Cypriot Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis on Tuesday sought to dismiss speculation over a decision by energy companies Total and Eni not to their begin drilling activities in the country's Block 7, saying the consortium never intended to start from there anyway.

Cyprus' energy minister says a consortium composed of energy companies Total of France and Eni of Italy has been licensed to explore for natural gas deposits in another area off Cyprus' southern coast.

Georgios Lakkotrypis says the two companies have an equal share in a new block into which a gas deposit that Eni discovered in an adjacent block last year is believed to extend.

Officials from Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the United States are meeting in Athens Wednesday to discuss energy issues.

Greece is hosting officials from Cyprus, Israel and the United States at a ministerial meeting on energy issues on Wednesday.

The licensing by Cyprus of Block 7 in its exclusive economic zone to a consortium made up of France's Total and Italy's Eni to prospect for hydrocarbons is seen as part of Nicosia's effort to shore up its sovereign rights in light of Turkey's illegal activities off its coast.

Cyprus has licensed a consortium made up of France's Total and Italy's Eni to search for hydrocarbons in another area that the east Mediterranean island nation has exclusive economic rights, the country's energy minister said Tuesday.

As ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum began exploratory drilling in Block 10 of Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Friday, the US assistant secretary of state responsible for energy expressed Washington's "excitement" over the catalytic role the exploitation of natural energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean will have in the region's development. 

The United States sees "great promise" in developing energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean, a US state department official said Friday, as ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Petroleum began exploratory drilling off Cyprus' southwestern coast.