Bethel Finance: Noble mulls participation in Cyprus licensing round

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Bethel Finance news:
Noble Energy, which recently reported a major natural gas find off Cyprus, does not exclude participation in a new licensing round planned this year, a senior official with the U.S.-based firm said on Wednesday.

Noble reported an offshore gas prospect of between 5 and 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) last month, a find which could make Cyprus self sufficient in the commodity for decades.

Terry Gerhart, vice president for international operations, said Noble was considering its options for participating in a second licensing round, expected to be called by Cyprus in coming weeks.

"At this point we are analysing the data which is out there. We haven't made a commitment yet but we are looking at the data and if we see something that looks encouraging we would certainly look forward to participating," Gerhart told journalists in Cyprus's capital Nicosia.

He said Noble's current find would require more appraisal wells. The company was looking at delivery methods, including piping it onshore for the domestic market, and the potential for an LNG export project, Gerhart said.

Cyprus's attempts to tap offshore hydrocarbon riches has angered its northern neighbour and rival Turkey, which challenges Nicosia's jurisdiction in searching for oil and gas.

But buoyed by finds in the offshore block which lies close to major gas discoveries off neighbouring Israel, Cyprus will put 12 blocks rimming its south up for licensing this year, a process which could eventually lead to exploration and exploitation.

The island is ethnically split between Greek Cypriots representing an internationally recognised government, and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in north Cyprus. Reunification talks are ongoing.

The Turkish Cypriots and Turkey, which invaded north Cyprus in 1974 after a brief Greece-inspired coup, plan retaliatory exploration in northern Cyprus.

Infrastructure work has already begun in an area onshore in the east of the island, in preparation for work which Turkey's state-run corporation TPAO is likely to start by around Feb. 28.

"We proposed either waiting for a (reunification) solution or working together on oil and gas exploration. They refused both, so we're going ahead with our own," said Osman Ertug, spokesman for Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.