The next 15 months could be make or break for any hopes of discovering large quantities of gas offshore Cyprus beyond 2011’s 4.2tcf Aphrodite, which currently looks stranded. Eni and ExxonMobil each plan two wells on their offshore Cyprus permits by end-2018 (see table). In the absence of discoveries, the exploration pipeline looks bare beyond this.

The US major is targeting a ‘Zohr-like’ play offshore Cyprus. “We use our 3D seismic imaging data, recently acquired, and regional geological understanding to determine which formations to target,” ExxonMobil’s Europe VP Tristan Aspray tells MEES. (CONTINUED - 500 WORDS)