Back to the complete issue
Sunday, 5 May 2019

Turkey announces natgas drilling off Cyprus, Egypt, EU caution drillers

Egypt has warned Turkey against drilling in Cypriot waters after a dispatch from Ankara on the international maritime telex system NAVTEX announcing that it plans to start drilling for natural gas in internationally recognized Cypriot waters. Doing so could have negative repercussions on the “stability and security of the East Mediterranean region,” the Foreign Ministry said in a carefully-written statement yesterday. “We are closely monitoring the situation,” the statement reads, urging all EastMed countries to abide by international law.

The EU followed suit, warning against the bid, which Turkey launched after the Cypriot government stepped up cooperation on hydrocarbons with Egypt and Greece. Ankara later deployed several deep-sea drilling vessels to conduct exploration activities around the island.

Meanwhile: Egypt is going to have a long wait for Cypriot gas: Initial natural gas output from Cyprus’ Aphrodite field will come between 2024 and 2025,Cypriot Minister of Energy Yiorgos Lakkotrypis announced on Friday, Reuters reported. The gas will flow via pipeline to Egypt, where it will be liquefied and re-exported.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.