A historical agreement was signed in Limassol on Thursday, October 6th, between TOTAL E & P Cyprus B.V. and EDT Offshore. Creating the conditions for natural gas drillings in the Cypriot EEZ to begin in early 2017, TOTAL and EDT Offshore agreed on cooperation in the Limassol Port.

The agreement was signed by the General Manager of TOTAL E & P Cyprus B.V, Yves Grosjean and CEO EDT Offshore Dareios Melas, in the presence of Marios Demetriades, Ministerof of Transport, Communications and Works, George Lakkotrypis, Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, and the Mayor of Limassol, Andreas Christou.

The agreement covers offshore and onshore support concerning the four wells the French company is planning to begin, first of which is situated in the target "Onisiforos" in block "11". According to the General Director of TOTAL E&P Cyprus B.V, Yves Grosjean, the company's objective is for the drilling to begin in April 2017.

According to Mr. Yves Grosjean the extraction and exploitation of natural gas will take up to 5-10 years and cost up to 5-10 billion. Although block "11", as an extension of the Egyptian gas field "Zor" implies many possibilities for the detection of natural gas, the company is even prepared for the failure of the operation. Success rates in similar cases of new drillings are around 25%.

The second party of the agreement, EDT Offshore, is based in Limassol Port for over 30 years. It keeps a specialized fleet and facilities specialized in providing services to oil companies.  Previously the company had a collaboration with Noble for both drillings, while it has also supported drilling in the EEZ of Israel and Egypt, the North Sea and elsewhere. EDT Offshore vessels which can perform in very difficult conditions, are also available for major search and rescue incidents, supporting rescue operations of the Republic of Cyprus.