Cyprus Business Now: LNG drilling, NPLs, Cypriot startup, hotel employees

Energy Minister George Papanastasiou on Friday expressed his hope that American multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil’s decision to begin drilling for natural gas in block 5 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will “open new horizons”.

Speaking after a meeting attended by ExxonMobil vice president for global exploration John Ardill, President Nikos Christodoulides, and himself, he said that the corporation’s decision to drill in block 5, which contains a potential natural gas reservoir named ‘Electra’, constitutes a “milestone”.

“Depending on the findings … the company will decide how to commercialise this particular deposit, and we hope that the deposit will be something which will open…