Cyprus has approved a deal for Delek Drilling and Avner Exploration to take stakes in Noble Energy’s promising block 12 off the Mediterranean island.
The long-mooted farm-in agreement comes just weeks before results are due from the closely watched Aphrodite-1 wildcat on the block.
Each Israeli company will secure a 15% share in the acreage with Noble’s operating stake dropping to 70%.
If Aphrodite holds commercial volumes of gas it would be a key plank in plans by Noble to develop gas resources from Cyprus and neighbouring Israel via an LNG complex.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials were due to visit Cyprus this week to lay the groundwork for unitising future potential finds that straddle the countries’ maritime border.
