The Cypriot government has approved the Development Plan for the "Cronos" gas field, located in the country's exclusive economic zone. This was announced by the Cypriot television station "Sigma". The cabinet also adopted a package of agreements that set the terms for the natural gas sales contract, clearing the way for the extraction of the first Cypriot natural gas in early 2028.

Minister of Energy George Papanastasiou announced that the concessionaire – a consortium between Italy's "Eni" and France's "TotalEnergies" – will immediately proceed to take the final investment decision. Papanastasiou described today's decisions as a "new historical page" in Cyprus's energy path.

In parallel, the government has also approved the terms for the sale of natural gas from the "Aphrodite" field. The consortium, which includes "Chevron", "BG Cyprus" (a subsidiary of "Shell"), and Israel's "NewMed Energy", is expected to take an investment decision on the project in 2027.

Meanwhile, the country's President Nikos Christodoulides announced that the cabinet is in an advanced stage of negotiations with "ExxonMobil" to grant a concession in a new block of the Cypriot exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean. According to information from the "Middle East Economic Survey" publication, the talks are being held outside the standard concession tender procedure, which effectively limits the choice to a specific block.

The publication points out that the only block meeting these conditions – free and bordering other "ExxonMobil" blocks – is Block 4 in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone. It is located adjacent to the Greek zone, where the company recently began operations.

"ExxonMobil" has already discovered significant natural gas deposits in two other blocks off Cyprus – blocks 5 and 10, where the "Glaucus" and "Pegasus" fields were identified. Thus, the country is increasingly positioning itself as a future energy player in the Eastern Mediterranean.