SO MUCH FOR RENEWABLES
Exxon Begins Drilling for Natural Gas Offshore Cyprus
ExxonMobil and its partner offshore Cyprus, QatarEnergy, on Friday started drilling for natural gas in an exploration block in the island nation’s exclusive economic zone, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, said.
The U.S. supermajor and Qatar’s state energy giant launched drilling activities in Block 5, Christodoulides wrote on X.
“Cyprus progresses exploration activities, aiming to be an alternative and reliable source of Natural Gas for the EU,” the Cypriot president added.
Cyprus has been hoping that its waters could hold giant natural gas resources, similar to the ones discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean offshore Egypt and Israel.
Exxon previewed at the end of last year that it would start drilling in January 2025 an exploration well offshore Cyprus, targeting natural gas.
“We've spent the last two years collecting very detailed, three dimensional seismic data ... We've identified several large prospects, and the next stage is to bring in a drilling rig and to test those,” John Ardill, Vice-president for global exploration at ExxonMobil, told Reuters in November.
“There is huge potential for gas exploration,” Ardill said, adding that Exxon sees the Electra prospect as “highly promising.”
Other international majors have been also exploring for natural gas offshore Cyprus.
Italy’s Eni and its partner, France’s TotalEnergies, made two discoveries in 2022—Cronos and Zeus.
Last year, Eni said it had completed the drilling of a second appraisal well at the Cronos gas discovery offshore Cyprus, estimating additional production capacity as it looks to fast-track development of the field. Eni is a partner and operator in seven exploration licenses offshore the country.
Cyprus could begin its first-ever production of natural gas as soon as 2026, the Mediterranean country’s Commerce, Industry, and Energy Minister George Papanastasiou told Reuters in an interview in early 2024.
Exxon and the other U.S. supermajor, Chevron, are also looking to explore for oil and gas offshore Greece in the Mediterranean.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
ExxonMobil and its partner offshore Cyprus, QatarEnergy, on Friday started drilling for natural gas in an exploration block in the island nation’s exclusive economic zone, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, said.
The U.S. supermajor and Qatar’s state energy giant launched drilling activities in Block 5, Christodoulides wrote on X.
“Cyprus progresses exploration activities, aiming to be an alternative and reliable source of Natural Gas for the EU,” the Cypriot president added.
Cyprus has been hoping that its waters could hold giant natural gas resources, similar to the ones discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean offshore Egypt and Israel.
Exxon previewed at the end of last year that it would start drilling in January 2025 an exploration well offshore Cyprus, targeting natural gas.
“We've spent the last two years collecting very detailed, three dimensional seismic data ... We've identified several large prospects, and the next stage is to bring in a drilling rig and to test those,” John Ardill, Vice-president for global exploration at ExxonMobil, told Reuters in November.
“There is huge potential for gas exploration,” Ardill said, adding that Exxon sees the Electra prospect as “highly promising.”
Other international majors have been also exploring for natural gas offshore Cyprus.
Italy’s Eni and its partner, France’s TotalEnergies, made two discoveries in 2022—Cronos and Zeus.
Last year, Eni said it had completed the drilling of a second appraisal well at the Cronos gas discovery offshore Cyprus, estimating additional production capacity as it looks to fast-track development of the field. Eni is a partner and operator in seven exploration licenses offshore the country.
Cyprus could begin its first-ever production of natural gas as soon as 2026, the Mediterranean country’s Commerce, Industry, and Energy Minister George Papanastasiou told Reuters in an interview in early 2024.
Exxon and the other U.S. supermajor, Chevron, are also looking to explore for oil and gas offshore Greece in the Mediterranean.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Chevron starts $48 billion Kazakh oilfield expansion
Reuters | January 24, 2025
Oil & gas pipelines. AI-generated stock image.
Chevron said on Friday it had started production at a $48 billion expansion of the giant Tengiz oilfield which will bring its output to around 1% of global crude supply.
The Tengiz field accounts for a large part of landlocked Kazakhstan’s oil production and has been a major cash generator for Chevron for decades. But its exports depend almost entirely on a pipeline that runs through Russia to the Black Sea, putting it effectively under Moscow’s control.
Flows could also be impacted by Kazakhstan’s agreement with OPEC and other major oil producers to curtail global supply in recent years.
The expansion is expected to reach full capacity of 260,000 barrels per day by June, lifting overall production at Tengiz to around 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, Chevron’s head of international exploration and production Clay Neff told Reuters.
Chevron shares were down 0.25% at 1240 GMT.
Tengiz is one of the world’s deepest and most complex fields due to high levels of sulphur and harsh weather conditions.
The expansion has suffered delays and huge cost overruns since launching in 2012. Investment was “at the low end” of $48 billion to $49 billion, Neff said, making it one of the world’s most expensive developments.
Chevron has a 50% stake in the Tengizchevroil joint venture which it operates, with Exxon Mobil holding 25%, Kazakh oil firm KazMunayGas 20% and Russian oil producer Lukoil the remaining 5%.
Tengizchevroil is expected to generate $4 billion of free cash flow in 2025 and $5 billion next year at an average Brent price of $60 a barrel, Neff said. Benchmark Brent crude oil is currently trading at around $80 a barrel.
“What this project allows us to do is not only increase production today but also extend the life of the field over time,” Neff told Reuters.
The expansion is part of Chevron’s plans to increase its own production by around 3% per year over the next five years along with strong growth in the US Permian shale basin.
(By Ron Bousso; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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