Eni goes full speed ahead with drilling plans off Cyprus

Italian oil giant Eni and its French partner TotalEnergies have started drilling an exploration well in waters off Cyprus, using a Vantage Drilling-owned drillship.

The update comes as oil and gas exploration and discovery are gaining momentum due to the current geopolitical situation following Russia’s war in Ukraine and the urgent need to secure a stable and reliable energy supply.

Following the arrival of the Tungsten Explorer drillship, Eni and its partner TotalEnergies on Monday, 23 May 2022 started drilling the Cronos-1 well in Block 6 offshore Cyprus. This is according to a Monday statement by Cyprus’ Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry.

This was also confirmed by the country’s Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Natasa Pilides.

The Tungsten Explorer drillship is of a DSME 12,000 design built by South Korea’s DSME in 2013. The latest update about the drillship from its owner came in December 2021 when Vantage said the vessel had returned to work for a client offshore Egypt through Vantage’s joint venture with ADES. The term of the drilling contract was 150 days.

According to Vantage’s fleet status report from the end of March, the rig worked for Petrobel off Egypt from late 2021 and into the second quarter of 2022 after which it was slated for work in the Mediterranean. Petrobel is a joint venture between Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Eni.

Offshore Energy has reached out to Eni and TotalEnergies, seeking more details about the well. Eni has declined to comment and we still have not received a response from TotalEnergies.

The beginning of drilling operations in Block 6 was also confirmed on social media by Dr. Yiota Lambrou, Coordinator for Hydrocarbons and Energy Affairs, Office of the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry of Cyprus.

Furthermore, a source from the ministry told Offshore Energy that the drilling of the well is expected to take around 60 days and, depending on the results, Eni/TotalEnergies consortium will decide on their next drill target.

Eni holds interests in seven licenses of the country’s exclusive economic waters in Blocks 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11, five of which as the operator. Eni and TotalEnergies are also partners in Block 7. They applied for a hydrocarbon research licence for this block in the country’s exclusive economic zone in November 2018 and were granted the licence in September 2019.

According to information from Cyprus Mail, a daily newspaper published in Cyprus, the Cronos well was supposed to be drilled over two years ago, however, these plans were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Block 6 was granted to Eni, as the operator, and TotalEnergies in April 2017 with each of them holding a 50 per cent interest. In February 2018, the two made a “lean gas discovery” in Block 6 with Calypso 1 NFW. The well, which was drilled in 2,074 meters of water depth reaching a final total depth of 3,827 meters, encountered an extended gas column in rocks of Miocene and Cretaceous age. The Cretaceous sequence had excellent reservoir characteristics.

The Calypso gas discovery confirmed the extension of the “Zohr like” play in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone. Eni’s giant Zohr discovery was made in waters offshore Egypt back in August 2015 and it was brought online in December 2017.

However, only days after announcing the Calypso discovery, the Saipem 12000 drillship, which was used by Eni for drilling operations off Cyprus, was blocked by Turkish warships. Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus criticised what they claimed to be “unilateral hydrocarbon-related activities” by the Cypriot government. After the drillship’s captain tried to move it to Block 3, the Turkish navy reportedly threatened to use force.

These days, Turkey is preparing to conduct its own drilling operations in the Mediterranean. Turkey’s national oil and gas company, TPAO, will be embarking on its new drilling mission in the Eastern Mediterranean as early as July.

The Turkish company will be using its fourth drillship for these operations, which it bought from a South Korean shipyard last year. The drillship arrived in Turkey late last week and it will be prepared for its first assignment while at Taşucu port.

Another oil giant has recently been drilling in waters off Cyprus. ExxonMobil started drilling the Glaucus-2 appraisal well located in Block 10 offshore Cyprus in December 2021, using the Stena Forth drillship. ExxonMobil is the operator of the block and QatarEnergy is its partner. In March 2022, drilling operations were completed, confirming the presence of high-quality gas.

Following the completion, the partnership proceeded with a detailed analysis and evaluation of the collected data, in order to more accurately determine the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the reservoir, as well as the potential options for the development and commercialisation of the discovery.