ExxonMobil finds largest Cyprus gas reserve yet

Nicosia: US energy giant ExxonMobil has discovered a huge natural gas reserve off the coast of Cyprus, Cypriot authorities said. The “world-class discovery” is the biggest find in the island’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) so far, said Cyprus Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis. It was also “one of biggest discoveries worldwide in the past two years”, he added. Preliminary analysis showed the reservoir holds between five and eight trillion cubic feet (around 140 to 230 billion cubic metres) of natural gas, he added. ExxonMobil vice president Tristan Aspray, who attended the announcement in Cypriot capital Nicosia, called the initial results “encouraging”. — AFP