Natural gas could start flowing by 2033 out of two undersea deposits discovered by ExxonMobil off Cyprus, a senior executive with the company said Tuesday, helping to turn the east Mediterranean island nation into a new European energy hub.
ExxonMobil Vice President of Global Exploration John Ardill said the largest U.S. oil company and its consortium partner, QatarEnergy, see the most viable route to market as a pipeline to existing processing facilities in Egypt, where the gas could be liquefied for export.
Other options, including building onshore facilities in Cyprus or a floating facility in waters above the deposits, are considered too costly at this point, Ardill said.
“Everything you’ve seen between the government of Cyprus and the government of Egypt gives us a lot of confidence that there’s good government to government coordination, the agreements in place to leverage that eastern Mediterranean energy hub concept,” Ardill said.