Cyprus issues 2nd offshore drilling license to ExxonMobil

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Energy have expanded their stake in potential oil and gas deposits off Cyprus. The companies signed a deal Friday with the east Mediterranean island nation for a second exploration license in waters that Turkey partly claims. Drilling off Cyprus has been a source of tension with neighboring Turkey since 2011, when Texas-based Noble Energy discovered the first natural gas off the ethnically divided island’s southern coast. The Cyrus energy minister says there are “sufficiently hopeful indications” that the geological makeup of the underwater area mirrors that of a nearby spot where ExxonMobil discovered a sizable deposit estimated to contain 5-8 trillion cubic feet of gas.