The agreement was signed at the presidential palace by Energy Minister Natasa Pilides, Ali Al-Mana, manager of Qatar Energy’s International Upstream and Exploration and Varnavas Theodossiou, 

lead country manager for ExxonMobil in Cyprus

Pilides hailed the ceremony as the culmination of a licensing process that officially began in June.

“With both the Government and the consortium having identified the geological prospects and the potential production synergies arising from licensing Block 5,

 and after careful examination by the Hydrocarbons Advisory Committee of the technical and economic aspects of ExxonMobil’s and Qatar Energy’s application, 

we proceeded to negotiate in good faith the terms of the Exploration and Production Sharing Contract that the Council of Ministers approved and we have just signed,” she added.

Despite the increasingly difficult working environment for the global oil and gas industry, this decisive step enhances a mutually beneficial partnership in Cyprus’ EEZ, she noted.