Exxon to start gas drilling off Cyprus in January, exec says

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) will drill a well off Cyprus in January in its pursuit of natural gas, the company’s VP for global exploration said Thursday, according to Reuters.

“We’ve spent the last two years collecting very detailed, three dimensional seismic data,” John Ardill said. “We’ve identified several large prospects, and the next stage is to bring in a drilling rig and to test those… We will spud our first well in mid-January, so we are very excited about that.”

Drillings next year will include two new wells – Pegasus and the highly promising Electra – the executive said.

Electra, located in Block 5 of Cyprus’ 13 total offshore exploration areas, is a very large prospect with the potential to be a standalone development, although appraisal drilling would be needed before final conclusions are reached, Ardill said, while Pegasus is close to Exxon’s (XOM) previously discovered Glaucus in Block 10 and Cronos, an Eni-TotalEnergies discovery in Block 6.

“There is huge potential for gas exploration,” Ardill said.