The Council of Ministers, during today’s meeting, approved the proposal of the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry Mrs. Natasa Pilides for licensing of Section 5, of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus, to the consortium of companies Exloration Production Cyprus Offshore) Limited (manager, 60%) and Qatar Petroleum International Upstream LLC (40%).

In addition, the Minister of Energy was authorised to sign, on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, the Contract for Research and Proportional Allocation of Production, which has been agreed after intensive negotiations with the consortium, in a ceremony to be held in Nicosia in the coming days.

It is pointed out that the licensing of Section 5 is carried out under the Law on Hydrocarbons (Exploration, Exploration and Exploitation), according to which the Council of Ministers may grant a license for an area to a body holding a license of a border area, based on geological or productive criteria. Therefore, in June 2021, the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry invited the Eni / TotalEnergies (Plot 6 licensees) and ExxonMobil / Qatar Petroleum (Plot 10 licensees) consortia to apply for a Hydrocarbon Exploration Permit for Research Unit 5.

An application was submitted by the consortium of ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum, which, after being evaluated by the competent Advisory Committee, led to intensive negotiations between the Minister of Energy and a group of technocrats and advisers to the consortium, which were successfully completed in November.