Italian energy giant Eni and French TotalEnergies have taken a final investment decision (FID) to develop the Cronos gas field in Block 6, located 185 kilometers off the coast of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. The extracted gas will be transported via an underwater pipeline to Egypt for liquefaction, with the resulting LNG destined for the European Union market.
The two companies, each holding a 50 percent stake in the project, confirmed their commitment to the offshore field after initial test drilling in 2020 confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons beneath the seabed. By 2024, estimates indicated the field could hold up to 85 billion cubic meters of recoverable gas.
Production timeline and volumes
Commercial extraction is scheduled to begin in early 2028. During the initial phase, production is expected to reach between 3.8 and 3.9 billion cubic meters of gas annually. A new pipeline will carry the gas to Egypt’s Zohr field, from where existing infrastructure will transport it to a coastal liquefaction terminal.
The facility will produce approximately 2.8 million tons of LNG per year from the Cypriot deposit. That liquefied natural gas is earmarked for delivery to the European Union, strengthening the bloc’s energy security and diversification efforts.
Strategic implications for Cyprus and the EU
TotalEnergies holds stakes in three other gas blocks on the Cypriot continental shelf and plans to bring those fields into production in subsequent years. Exploration activities in the waters around southern Cyprus are intensifying, raising the possibility that the island nation could emerge as a regional hydrocarbon powerhouse.
The development is seen as a significant argument for the European Union’s push toward energy independence, providing a new and relatively close source of natural gas to reduce reliance on external suppliers. The project also underscores the growing cooperation between European energy majors in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. num_shyman / Shutterstock
