When it comes to gas,Cyprus looks increasingly spoiled for choice.Exxon Mobil may confirm in-place resources of 5 trillion-8 trillion cubic feet(142 billion-227 billion cubic meters)at the Glaucus-1 discovery that it and Qatar Petroleum(QP)made in Block 10 in February,while Eni and Total's Calypso find in Block 6 could have 4 Tcf-5 Tcf of reserves(WGI Feb.14'18).That's on top of an estimated 4.5 Tcf in US Noble Energy's Aphrodite field.But the government has still to decide precisely how to monetize its burgeoning gas riches as calls for political and commercial collaboration grow across the East Mediterranean.Right now,Nicosia says talks are advancing on exporting Aphrodite gas to Egypt.The gas has remained locked beneath the seabed since being discovered in 2011,with Noble working to update fiscal terms and improve the production-sharing agreement before moving ahead.The plan is to pipe the gas to Egypt's Idku LNG plant,where it would be liquefied and re-exported.Using existing infrastructure would keep down costs and make Cypriot gas competitive against rival supply from Russia,Algeria,Norway and the US.One private-equity source says the Aphrodite gas will have to be produced for a maximum of $5-$5.50 per million Btu for the economics to work.Noble insists updated terms make the project viable,while Idku operator Royal Dutch Shell agrees that it makes commercial sense.
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