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NICOSIA, April 14 (Reuters) – An exploration drill by ExxonMobil (XOM.N) offshore Cyprus has failed to find commercial quantities of natural gas, the island’s energy ministry said on Monday.
Drilling operations had been completed at the Elektra-1 well in Block 5 of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Cyprus, it said.
“Well data and preliminary evaluation work indicate the presence of natural gas in non-commercial quantities,” the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry said.
ExxonMobil executives had previously described the prospect, based on seismic data assessments, as promising.
The drill was conducted by a consortium of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Cyprus as operator, and with QatarEnergy Internation E&P LLC.
According to the operator’s early assessment post-drilling, Elektra-1 yielded encouraging results, confirming the existence of a hydrocarbon system and good quality reservoirs.
The data collected during the drilling operations was being evaluated to determine the consortium’s future plans in Block 5, the energy ministry said.
A drillship deployed by the consortium would now move to another block in Cyprus’s EEZ to conduct exploration drilling at another well, named Pegasus-1.
Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
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