The $1.8 billion contracts signed by Italy’s Eni for subsea infrastructure for the Kronos natural gas field on Monday are historic, expert Charles Ellinas said on Tuesday. . At the same time, he said the benefits for Cyprus were “very low”.
“It is certainly something historic,” as the development will lead to natural gas exports, Ellinas told CNA. He added, however, that “that is where the benefits end” and that, when it comes to the benefit for the Cypriot side, “unfortunately, the benefits for Cyprus are very low”.
Ellinas said many concessions had been made to Eni, particularly regarding tariffs for the use of infrastructure at Egypt’s Zohr field. “Cyprus’s interest ends at the entrance to the terminal in Damietta,” Egypt, he said.
As he explained, Cyprus does not benefit from the liquefaction and sale of liquefied natural gas (LNG), where the major profits lie. “The added value comes from the sale of LNG,” he said, adding that Cyprus does not take part in that process and its involvement ends before the gas enters the terminal in Egypt.
Referring to discussions about the project’s geostrategic significance for Cyprus, Mr Ellinas said the country does not take part in LNG sales, and that the gas “goes wherever Eni decides”.
He also noted that the field’s volumes are small and that exports may reach 4 billion cubic metres a year. For Europe, this amount represents slightly more than 1%, while, he said, Europe consumes around 340 billion cubic metres every year.
Source: CNA
