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ExxonMobil Finds New Gas Deposit Off Cyprus

Valaris DS-9, chartered by ExxonMobil for the Pegasus campaign (Valaris file image)
Valaris DS-9, chartered by ExxonMobil for the Pegasus campaign (Valaris file image)

Published Jul 9, 2025 9:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

ExxonMobil and Qatar Energy have hit another natural gas find in the Block 10 lease south of Cyprus, adding to a previous discovery in the same area. The positive E&P results add to Cyprus' strong portfolio of offshore gas prospects for possible export development. 

Exxon's Pegasus-1 well found about 350 meters of gas-bearing reservoir in a deepwater well in about 6,000 feet of water. Exxon said only that further assessment will be needed to evaluate the results fully. 

Two nearby wells in the same block, Glaucus-1 and Glaucus-2, also turned up a high quality gas-bearing reservoir. Cypriot officials estimate the resource base in the Glaucus reservoir to be in the range of 3.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (Another nearby field, Elektra, looked promising at first but turned out to contain noncommercial quantities.)

Cyprus is a new frontier region for gas production, with at least five and possibly six large fields ready for development. Cypriot offshore energy would be a geostrategic win for Europe, which is in need of natural gas to replace sanctioned Russian volumes. A subsea gas pipeline from Cyprus to Greece would go a long way towards solving the EU's energy problems. 

However, the cost and the political obstacles to production are significant. Turkey objects to Cypriot-managed offshore E&P without a share for Northern Cyprus, the Turkish-aligned half of the island, and it opposes any pipeline connecting Cyprus to Greece. The United States withdrew its support for that pipeline route in January 2022, and the proposal has been dormant since. 

An alternative export route exists to the south. Italian oil major Eni has signed a deal to pipe Cypriot gas from the Cronos field to Egypt's Damietta LNG plant for liquefaction and shipping to global markets. Other projects in the southern Cypriot EEZ could use similar development arrangements. There is also the FLNG option: At Chevron's Aphrodite gas field, Cypriot authorities have approved a plan to use a floating liquefaction plant (FLNG) for export.