The government of Cyprus has confirmed a new natural gas discovery in the Pegasus-1 well located in Block 10, operated by ExxonMobil and its partner QatarEnergy. The well intersected approximately 350 meters of gas-bearing reservoir at a depth of 1.9 kilometers, according to government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis. Drilling was carried out by the Stena Forth drillship and concluded in late June.
While ExxonMobil has not issued a public statement, the Cypriot presidency said further technical evaluation will be required to assess the well’s commercial viability. No resource estimates or development timeline have been provided. The result marks the second confirmed discovery in Block 10, following the 2019 Glaucus-1 find, which was estimated to contain 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.
The Pegasus-1 result stands in contrast to ExxonMobil’s recent campaign in neighboring Block 5. In May, the company drilled the Elektra-1 well using the Valaris DS-9 drillship, but the effort was declared non-commercial. The well encountered gas, but in quantities too small for development, with the outcome raising concerns about the broader resource potential in Cyprus’s southern offshore acreage.
Cyprus is advancing plans to become a regional gas export hub, and Block 10 is central to those ambitions. Possible development scenarios include subsea tiebacks to Egypt’s liquefaction plants at Idku or Damietta, which could offer a near-term export route to Europe and Asia. However, given the complexity of deepwater development and the absence of declared volumes, a final investment decision remains a distant prospect.
Cyprus’s Block 10 has attracted industry interest since ExxonMobil’s 2019 Glaucus-1 discovery, one of the largest regional finds at 5-8 tcf. However, deepwater development remains stalled due to infrastructure gaps and cost hurdles. Pegasus-1’s success could revive momentum, but commercial viability will likely hinge on total volumes and export optionality.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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