Greek Cyprus gas insufficient: experts

NICOSIA

As the Greek Cypriot president announced the size of a natural gas field in the eastern Mediterranean, experts said the field was sufficient to meet Greek Cyprus’ energy demand for 240 years but can only meet six months of Europe’s demand, daily Hürriyet reported yesterday.

Demetris Christofias said U.S. firm Noble Energy conducted exploratory drilling that showed the field held an estimated 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet (140 to 230 billion cubic meters) of natural gas. He said the offshore discovery will enable the European Union member to contribute to the bloc’s energy security. However, experts said the EU’s need for natural gas in 2010 amounted to 522 billion cubic meters. Even though all the natural gas reserves in the field are able to be reached, they will only be enough for six months of Europe’s needs, experts said. Noble Energy said the discovery further highlights the “quality and significance” of the area’s oil and gas potential. “We look forward to working closely with the Government of Cyprus,” Noble Energy Chairman and CEO Charles D. Davidson said in a statement.