The next couple of months will see crucial developments regarding the future commercialisation of the Kronos offshore gas field, the energy minister said on Thursday.
George Papanastasiou said important talks were held in Nicosia last week between himself and Karim Badawi, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
Taking part in the talks were senior officers of energy companies ENI and Total Energies – the consortium that holds the concession on offshore Block 6 where the Kronos reservoir is located.
Discovered in 2022, Kronos is estimated to hold over 3 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.
The reservoir was subsequently appraised in 2024. A development agreement between ENI and Total Energies, along with the governments of Cyprus and Egypt, outlines plans to process and export the gas through Egypt’s existing infrastructure.
In February 2025 the governments of Cyprus and Egypt, plus the Block 6 consortium, signed a ‘host government’ agreement.
It sets out Egypt as the ‘host government’ for Block 6 and the Kronos, Zeus and Calypso gas fields which are present under its seabed, meaning that the gas extracted will be sent to the Segas liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Egyptian port city of Damietta for liquefaction.
Papanastasiou revealed that already important commercial agreements have been “formulated” between the investors (the two energy companies) and Egypt. The deals cover the entire spectrum of the supply chain, from the export of the natural gas up to its liquefaction at the facilities in Damietta.
At the same time, a separate gas sales deal is being drafted between Cyprus and the investors. The final draft should be ready by end of August, said the minister.
“September will be a month of talks aimed at getting signatures by the end of October,” stated Papanastasiou.
Meantime, ENI and Total Energies have submitted to the Cypriot government a draft development and production plan for the Kronos gas play. The plan outlines both the technical aspects as well as the commercial aspect.
The minister revealed also that the two companies intend to take a final investment decision for Kronos sometime within the year.
He described that timeline as “difficult but feasible”.
If all goes smoothly, he added, 2027 could be the year for the first flow of natural gas from Kronos.
“What’s significant is that 100 per cent of the gas will go to liquefaction and export.”
