Cyprus: long wait for celebration

The rising prospect of East Med natural gas sales is lifting Cyprus' hopes of finding a market, despite Turkish threats

A string of recent developments in the East Mediterranean offshore have raised the possibility of a gas find off Cyprus made in December 2011 finally being developed. The Aphrodite field in Block 12, located 100 miles (160 km) south of the island, contains 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Operator Noble Energy has been unable to proceed with a final investment decision because it has failed to find a market that would justify the expense of developing a relatively small discovery at the bottom of 2,000 metres of sea. Noble has also made slow progress in finding markets for its two operations offshore Israel, the Tamar field (with reserves of 11 trillion cf) and the giant Leviathan field