To say that development has been slow at Cyprus’ 4.5tcf Aphrodite field, discovered in December 2011, would be an understatement. Three Cypriot energy ministers have come and gone, then operator Noble has been taken over by compatriot Chevron and BG, which farmed into the project in 2016, by UK major Shell.
Development was meant to be expedited following the signing of a 2019 renegotiated production sharing contract for the field that set out specific milestones, with the first of those the drilling of the Aphrodite-3 (A3) well by November 2021 (MEES, 8 November 2019). Operator Chevron (35%), Shell (35%) and their Israeli partner NewMed Energy (formerly Delek Drilling – 30%) have managed to delay A3 until this week, when the Stena Forth drillship spudded the elusive well. (CONTINUED - 830 WORDS)
