The President of the Republic and his close associates are facing a very important and difficult decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the claim of the US Chevron to modify the 2019 agreement and not to use a floating production unit at the Aphrodite field.
If the Americans’ new proposal is eventually accepted, technocrats from the Energy Ministry, the Cyprus Hydrocarbon Company, and French consultancy Beicip Franlab warn that it will result in a very large loss of revenue (amounting to billions of euros) for the Republic of Cyprus. Further handling is currently being discussed at the Presidential Palace, in the framework of a new meeting between President Christodoulides, the Minister of Energy, the Legal Service, and their colleagues.
Chevron maintained a firm stance during yesterday’s meeting at the Presidential Palace, Phileleftheros’s information from unofficial sources reported. The company reportedly did not even discuss the alternative options put on the table by the Republic of Cyprus to avoid a final deadlock.
It is neither discussing the financial contribution of the state with hundreds of millions for the installation of the floating production unit (although it is not foreseen in the 2019 agreement) nor the option of diversifying the revenue-sharing agreement so that the Republic of Cyprus – without the floating production unit – receives a higher percentage of revenues from the marketing of gas during the first phase of the development of the field and not during the second phase, when, according to the Republic’s technocrats, the quantities of gas that will be sold will be reduced.
It is obvious that the President of the Republic is faced with a very difficult dilemma, which is determined not only by technocratic-economic criteria but also by geopolitical ones.