2022-2023 Cyprus Country Report
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CYPRUSCOUNTRY REPORT <strong>2022</strong><br />
Some examples include the decision in 2018 by leading London ship insurer P&I Club<br />
to open a post-Brexit EU subsidiary in <strong>Cyprus</strong>, reaffirming the island’s position as one<br />
of the top global hubs for shipping. Another triumph came in early 2019, when British<br />
shipping firm P&O Ferries decided to register its English Channel operating fleet<br />
under the <strong>Cyprus</strong> flag to take advantage of the benefits and security it provides. Two<br />
of the industry’s most highly respected privately-owned shipmanagement companies,<br />
Columbia Shipmanagement and Marlow Navigation – both based in <strong>Cyprus</strong> – merged<br />
in 2017 to form Columbia Marlow, creating one of the world’s largest ship and crewmanagement<br />
companies. Another transaction constituting FDI was the 2018 buyout<br />
of Limassol-based Songa Offshore SE by Transocean Ltd, the world’s largest offshore<br />
drilling contractor for oil and gas wells, in a deal worth US$3.4 billion. In addition,<br />
natural gas finds within <strong>Cyprus</strong>’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and efforts to exploit<br />
it in cooperation with neighbouring countries have expanded opportunities for the<br />
island’s already thriving shipping sector.<br />
DEVELOPING AN ENERGY HUB<br />
<strong>Cyprus</strong>’ hydrocarbons discoveries captured the attention of global energy<br />
heavyweights when US company Noble Energy, now acquired by US giant Chevron,<br />
made the first natural gas discovery in 2011 with estimated resources of 4.5 trillion cubic<br />
feet (tcf) in the Aphrodite field. ENI, Kogas, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total<br />
have all secured exploration licences and conducted exploratory drilling. ExxonMobil<br />
announced the discovery of an estimated 5 to 8 tcf in Block 10 in early 2019, while ENI<br />
confirmed a discovery in Block 6 – which it operates with Total – of around 2.5 tcf in<br />
August <strong>2022</strong>. Further discoveries could be announced within the next year.<br />
In 2019 <strong>Cyprus</strong> agreed to build a subsea pipeline connecting Aphrodite to Egypt’s<br />
liquefaction plants and concluded a production-sharing deal with Noble Energy<br />
(now Chevron) and its partners over the Aphrodite gas reservoir. The development of<br />
ENI, Kogas, ExxonMobil,<br />
Royal Dutch Shell,<br />
and Total have all<br />
secured exploration<br />
licences and conducted<br />
exploratory drilling<br />
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