The two energy firms signed in Cairo on Monday the host government agreement with Egypt and Cyrpus for the exploitation of Cyprus’ Cronos Block 6 resources.
Eni said in a statement this agreement is a “concrete milestone” to establish a gas hub in the Eastern Mediterranean, capitalizing on Egypt’s existing hydrocarbon infrastructure and positioning Cyprus as a gas producer and exporter.
It outlines a comprehensive framework enabling a “rapid” development of the Cronos gas discovery offshore Cyprus.
According to Eni, the gas supplies will be transported and processed in existing Zohr facilities to be then liquefied in the Damietta LNG plant for export to European markets.
Discovered in 2022 and subsequently appraised in 2024, Cronos gas in place is estimated at more than 3 trillion cubic feet (TCF), Eni said.
Additionally, Block 6 encompasses further potential resources under exploration and appraisal, including the Zeus discovery made in 2022
Block 6 is operated by Eni holding a 50 percent interest, while TotalEnergies holds a 50 percent interest as well.
Eni also operates Block 8 and has participating interests in Blocks 7 and 11.
Damietta LNG
In Egypt, Eni is currently the country’s leading producer with an equity production of approximately 280,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024.
Eni operates in Egypt through its wholly owned subsidiary IEOC and has a 50 percent share in the Damietta LNG plant.
Back in 2023, the liquefaction plant shipped its 500th LNG cargo since the start of operations in 2005.
The 5 mtpa facility located on the Mediterranean coast, about 60 km northwest of Port Said, started exporting LNG again in February 2021 following a deal between Egypt’s EGPC and EGAS, Eni, and Naturgy.
It stopped operations in 2012 due to declining domestic production, but new finds such as Eni’s giant Zohr field in the East Mediterranean allowed the partners to restart the plant and ship the first cargo in 2021.
Howevher, Egypt again shifted from being an LNG exporter to an importer early last year due to declining domestic gas production and rising demand for cooling amid multiple heatwaves.
To support its growing need for natural gas, Egypt currently hosts the 170,000-cbm Hoegh Galleon FSRU at the Sumed port in Ain Sokhna, with a second unit, the 160,000-cbm Energos Eskimo, set to arrive in June.
In addition, a recent report said that Egypt has signed a deal to deploy one of Turkiye’s operational FSRUs at Egypt’s Ain Sokhna port to cover LNG demand in June-November.
