It is indeed a great
pleasure and a privilege for me to be here today and address this workshop,
organized by the MIT Energy Initiative and The Cyprus Institute, for the
discussion of their study on “Maximizing
the Long-term Value of Natural Gas for Cyprus”.
At the outset, please allow
me to congratulate the organizers for all their hard work and, of course, for
their initiative to hold today’s event. I consider it to be an excellent opportunity to bring together experts
and interested parties, for a fruitful exchange of views and experiences on a
subject that is of the outmost importance to the people of Cyprus.
There is
no denying that the development of the oil and gas sector on our island holds
varied and significant economic benefits for the Cyprus economy. As such, the
aim of our Government is to proceed with the exploration and exploitation of
our offshore resources in a sustainable way, in order to maximize their long-term
value. We are fully aware of the excellent prospects created for natural gas exports and the major
transformation of the country’s energy mix, through both the proven discovery in Block 12 of our EEZ, of
the third largest natural gas field in the deep water Levant Basin, as well as
the expected future discoveries.
Obviously,
the positive impact on our economy will be twofold. On one hand, the
utilization of our indigenous natural gas for the production of electricity
will lead to a significant reduction to electricity costs for all end users, and
thus to the enhancement of the overall competitiveness of our economy. And on
the other hand, the monetization of our gas resources through exports will
provide a much needed boost to the Cyprus economy, with new capital injected
and new jobs created.
In
addition, given Cyprus’ strategic location at the crossroads of three
continents, as well as the exploration activities of our neighboring countries,
the potential exists for transforming our country into an important regional
energy hub. In fact, Cyprus provides an ideal
environment for logistics, services, petrochemicals and other oil
and gas companies, to set up operations and service the offshore activities in the
entire Eastern Mediterranean region.
Dear
participants,
I have
chosen to conclude my short address by reiterating our plans regarding the LNG
Plant to be constructed at Vasilikos. As we have pointed out on many occasions,
our Government has set
amongst its priorities to carry out all
the necessary steps for the construction of the LNG Plant onshore Cyprus. To
this end, we have already signed Memoranda of Understanding for reaching a Project
Agreement with our partners in Production Sharing Contracts, Noble Energy,
Delek, Avner and Total. We have also appointed the necessary negotiating team and
we are currently utilizing the services of specialised consulting firms from
abroad, with huge experience in such projects.
It is
important to note here that the LNG plant is the solution we have selected,
after weighing all available options and data, for the monetization of our
indigenous gas reserves. We are confident that it is in fact the best available
option in terms of building economies of scale, maximizing profits and access
to the most attractive global markets, with the flexibility offered by its
operation, also allowing for the potential processing of natural gas from other
countries in the region.
In closing, I would simply like to thank you all for your kind attention. I wish
every success to the deliberations of today’s workshop and I look forward to
studying your conclusions.
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Note: The workshop took place at the Cyprus Journalists House.
