Israeli, European investors eye Cyprus LNG terminal-project head

Jun 4, 2013

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Israeli and European investors have displayed an interest in financing a liquefied natural gas terminal on Cyprus, the head of Cyprus's national hydrocarbons company said on Tuesday.

Cyprus plans to build a $6 billion LNG terminal on its southern coast to process natural gas from offshore fields now under development. Authorities hope the prospect of gas finds can spur growth on the recession-hit island which recently required an EU and IMF bailout.

"We have 3 serious financial options to look into. This makes us confident that we can start the construction of the Vasiliko LNG plant in 2016," said Charles Ellinas, head of the island's national hydrocarbons company, CNHC.

Ellinas, in Brussels for a conference, told Reuters that in addition to European and Israeli investors, investors from the "Far East" had expressed an interest in acquiring LNG in return for an investment in the plant. A third financing option for the terminal was project finance withenergy companies licensed to search for gas, he said.

"We will hold serious discussions with investors early next year," Ellinas said.

U.S. energy company Noble is due to start an appraisal drilling imminently to verify a 2011 discovery of 5-8 trillion cubic feet of gas. TheEnsco 5006 rig was moved into position south-east of Cyprus earlier this week.

Two other companies, France's Total and Italy's ENI plan drillings off Cyprus by 2015.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/04/cyprus-natgas-financing-idUSL5N0EG1XP20130604?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews&rpc=43

Turkey's Erdogan says sees opportunity for Cyprus deal

May 16, 2013
Reuters 
Source: Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he saw a good opportunity for progress towards ending the division of Cyprus, a move that could further the exploitation of natural gas and oil in the eastern Mediterranean.

The island has been divided since a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by a Turkish invasion of the north in 1974. Turkey keeps some 30,000 troops in the north and is the only nation to recognize the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Efforts to reunite the island have repeatedly failed, but Turkish officials say the election in February of President Nicos Anastasiades, who backed a 2004 U.N. plan to resolve the division, presents the best hope in years of reaching a deal.

"We believe that there is a lot of opportunity to reach an agreement on the Cyprus issue, and this is an area which we continue to focus on," Erdogan said at a news conference with U.S. President Barack Obama during a trip to Washington.

Anastasiades backed the 2004 plan proposed by then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, even though a majority of his Greek Cypriot compatriots rejected it in a referendum shortly before the island joined the European Union.

The Turkish Cypriots in the north backed Annan's proposal.

"We're optimistic, we're working for a solution and we are asking the United States to apply diplomatic support to this as well," a Turkish official said ahead of talks between Erdogan and Obama.

Turkey itself began EU entry talks in 2005, a year after Cyprus was admitted, but its bid has been blocked by the intractable dispute over the island, as well as by longstanding opposition from core EU members Germany and France.

The Mediterranean island concluded a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout deal with the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund in April to stave off bankruptcy.

Development of its offshore Aphrodite gas field, which may contain 5 trillion to 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, could reverse its financial fortunes. But Turkey has strongly warned it against exploiting the gas before a settlement is reached.

Turkey has meanwhile drilled exploratory onshore oil wells on the north of the island that have shown traces of hydrocarbons, further exacerbating the tensions.

(Reporting by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Jim Loney)