MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2023) Cyprus is seeking to play a "key role" in the energy supply mix of the European Union in the near and long term after the country confirmed billions of cubic meters in gas reserves, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday.
"Cyprus is the only member state in the eastern Mediterranean region with confirmed gas reserves and with historically excellent relations and long standing partnerships in the field of energy. With the vast majority of its neighbors, it can play a key role in our joined efforts to address the energy crisis by providing a reliable alternative energy corridor to Europe comprising diverse sources and routes," Christodoulides said at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The president added that active participation of major energy companies in the development of reserves in Cyprus could facilitate the creation of a sustainable regional energy market in Europe.
"We are of the view that the presence of major oil and gas companies in the region could be leveraged to create synergies towards a sustainable regional gas market that could supply the European Union with gas in the immediate future and with hydrogen in a few years time," Christodoulides stated.
In 2011, Cyprus reported its first natural gas discovery near its southern coast measuring around 127 billion cubic meters of gas. Last December, a consortium of Italy's Eni and France's TotalEnergies found a field with an estimated 72 billion cubic meters of natural gas located south off the island.
