NICOSIA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) - Italy's Eni oil and gas company has discovered a new gas field in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus, the latter country's Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Natasa Pilides said here on Monday.
The "significant" gas discovery was made at the Cronos-1 well, located some 165 kilometers off the southwest shores of Cyprus. It is within Block 6 of the Cypriot EEZ and has an estimated capacity of 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas of "good to excellent quality characteristics," according to Pilides.
The exploration well was drilled by Eni in the same block where in February 2018 the company discovered the large Calypso-1 gas field that contains an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Eni is the operator of Block 6, in which French company TotalEnergies holds a 50 percent stake.
Pilides said that at a depth of 2.287 meters a 260-metre column of pure natural gas was discovered.
This is the fourth gas field discovered within the Cypriot EEZ. It raises the total reserves of natural gas discovered so far within Cyprus' jurisdiction to between 15.5 and 19.5 trillion cubic feet. ■
