NICOSIA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- An ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum consortium will start an exploratory drilling for natural gas by the end of this year in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone, Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said on Friday.
Lakkotrypis made the statement after Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met with ExxonMobil's senior vice-president Neil Chapman to discuss the companies' planning.
"We discussed our plans for the drilling and the exploration wells, and I informed Mr. President that our plan is to drill sometime in the fourth quarter, we don't have an exact date right now," Chapman said.
But he said he could not predict the result of the drilling in Cypriot block 10.
"Should there be sufficient hydrocarbons in block 10 you then have to appraise it to understand if it is commercially viable and then the time to get commercial quantities in the market could take years," he added.
