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Friday, March 15, 2013
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‘Gas for export now much more urgent’ New minister says Cyprus hopes to begin exports to Europe by 2018 By Peter Apps
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YPRUS, urgently needing revenues from its newly found natural gas reserves, hopes to begin exports by 2018 and will target sales at fellow European Union members, its energy minister said. George Lakkotrypis also said gas could be sold in advance or used to help the government, which is now negotiating a multibillion-dollar bailout, to issue new debt on international markets in future. US company Noble Energy and the Cypriot government announced in 2011 that they had discovered gas deposits of around 7-8 trillion cubic feet (200 billion cubic metres), 40 per cent of the EU’s annual demand. Aphrodite, as the gas field is known, has more gas than Cyprus could use in over a century, so the government hopes to boost its revenues through exports to the European Union. “It is important to us not just economically but also geostrategically,” Lakkotrypis told Reuters in an interview, referring to potential exploration partners. “So EU member countries are obviously appealing.” Experts believe Cyprus, an energy sector novice, could be sitting on hydrocarbons worth up to $400 billion. Such revenues would be welcome to a government that is now negotiating a bailout from the European Union, International Mon-
etary Fund and the European Central Bank so it can recapitalise its banks, service debt and support government spending. But as the gas reserves are still unproven pending an appraisal drilling this year, they have barely been taken into account by lenders discussing aid to the island. A draft bailout deal calls for the establishment of a resource fund to manage revenue and place debt on a downward course, though the creation of such a fund could be years away. Lakkotrypis, barely in office two weeks following last month’s election, said the financial crisis had made development of the gas fields for exports much more urgent. The new government wished survey work had progressed faster to give Cyprus a stronger economic position and less need for a bailout. “If it had been a year ahead, it would have made a real difference,” he said. To monetise its deposits as fast as possible, the government was pushing Noble Energy to bring forward appraisal drilling to confirm its gas findings, Lakkotrypis said. “It’s a pity we are under so much pressure. Every week counts,” he said. Lakkotrypis said Cyprus was in the final months of deliberation over deals to run an onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant to process the gas for export by ship.
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ENTERING THE FINAL STRETCH TO BAILOUT DEAL
President Nicos Anastasiades said yesterday he was committed to implementing a bailout deal “up to the last iota”, as negotiations appeared to enter the final stretch. Anastasiades is in Brussels to attend the EU and eurozone summits after which an extraordinary session on Cyprus will take place this evening FULL STORY PAGE 5
Abusive twitter user apologises to maligned boxer on TV AN “embarrassed” British Twitter troll apologised live on television yesterday to a boxer he enraged so much that he put a “bounty” on his tormentor’s head and drove more than 60 miles to his street. Curtis Woodhouse had been receiving abusive tweets from James O’Brien for up to eight months before he finally snapped when he was branded a “disgrace” after losing his English light-welterweight title on points last week. The former Birmingham City footballer offered £1,000 to any of his followers who could give him the troll’s address, and received it within minutes. He drove more than 60 miles from Hull
to Sheffield where he tweeted a photo of O’Brien’s street, saying “right Jimbob im here !!!!! someone tell me what number he lives at, or do I have to knock on every door #itsshowtime”. At that point, Mr O’Brien (@jimmyob88) apologised. Yesterday Woodhouse said he finally decided to act after seeing how worried his wife was about the abuse. He told ITV Daybreak: “If you are in the public eye, I don’t think it’s right that you should be abused, your family should be abused, your children should be abused, I don’t think anyone has got the right to do that.
“I was sat on the sofa with the wife on Monday and the thing is she sometimes uses my account as well and she’s seen this abuse and it worries and scares her. “We don’t know who this guy is and some of his threats, I don’t know if he’s being serious or not. I could see that she was worried and I thought enough is enough, I am going to put a stop to this right now.” Woodhouse drew widespread support for his actions from the Twitter community, including from footballer and prolific tweeter Joey Barton. O’Brien, who sat next to him on the show, said he realised he had “let everyone down” with his abuse.