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Aphrodite gas field is an offshore gas field off the southern coast of Cyprus located at the exploratory drilling block 12 in the country's maritime Exclusive Economic Zone. Located 34 kilometres (21 mi) west of Israel's Leviathan gas field, block 12 is believed to hold 3 to 9 trillion cubic feet (85×10⁹ to 250×10⁹ m³) of natural gas.^[4]^[5]

Noble Energy received the concession to explore block 12 in October 2008.[6] In August 2011, Noble entered into a production-sharing agreement with the Cypriot government regarding the block's commercial development.[7] Sources in Cyprus indicated in mid-September that Noble had commenced exploratory drilling of the block.[8]

Cyprus demarcated its maritime border with Egypt in 2003, and with Lebanon in 2007.[9] Cyprus and Israel demarcated their maritime border in 2010.[10] Turkey, which does not recognize the border agreements of Cyprus with its neighbors,[11] threatened to mobilize its naval forces in the event that Cyprus would proceed with plans to begin drilling at Block 12.[12] Cyprus' drilling efforts have the support of the United States, European Union and United Nations, and on September 19 2011 drilling in Block 12 began without any incidents being reported.[13]

According to Noble Energy, a total gross unrisked deep oil potential is 3.7 billion barrels (590×10⁶ m³). The field has a gross mean average of 7 trillion cubic feet (200 billion cubic metres) of natural gas with an estimated gross resource range of 5–8 trillion cubic feet (140×10⁹–230×10⁹ m³).^[14]^[15]
References

^ Ali, Jaber (15 July 2011). "Lebanese Cabinet discusses offshore energy policies". Middle East Confidential. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
^ "Noble Energy To Drill Offshore Cyprus After October 2011 Under PSC Terms". Zawya. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
^ Noble Energy Inc (28 December 2011). "Noble Energy Announces Significant Natural Gas Discovery Offshore Republic of Cyprus". PR Newswire (Houston). Retrieved 7 April 2012.
^ Gilson, George (23 January 2011). "Something sizzling in Cyprus: gas shakes regional chessboard". Athens News. Retrieved 7 September 2011. "The announcement by Texas-based Noble Energy in late December of huge natural gas deposits in Israel's Leviathan block (and Tamar earlier) hiked expectations that Cyprus' block 12, just 34 kilometres away, may have similarly enormous deposits."
^ Hadjicostis, Menelaos (15 November 2011). "US firm: 3-9 trillion cubic feet of gas off Cyprus". Yahoo! News. Associated Press (Nicosia, Cyprus). Retrieved 17 November 2011.
^ Kennedy, Charles (24 June 2011). "U.S. Company to Begin Drilling in Cyprus Offshore Waters by Year End". OilPrice.com. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
^ Ament, Carol (19 August 2011). "Full speed ahead for Cyprus drilling". Famagusta Gazette. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
^ Menelaos Hadjicostis; Suzan Fraser (19 September 2011). "Cyprus Drills Offshore Despite Turkish Warning". ABC News. Associated Press (Nicosia). Retrieved 20 September 2011.
^ "Cyprus – Exclusive Economic Zone – Turkey's provocative behaviour". Republic of Cyprus. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011. "In February 2003 and January 2007, Cyprus signed an Agreement on the Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone with Egypt and Lebanon, respectively."
^ "'Don't attempt to test Turkey's past'". Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul). 6 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011. "In 2010, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel signed an accord demarcating their maritime borders to facilitate the search for mineral deposits in the East Mediterranean."
^ "Noble Energy: Good chance of large gas find off Cyprus". New Europe (newspaper). 20 February 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011. "Turkey responded by saying the agreement was 'null and void' because it fails to recognize the rights and jurisdiction of Turkish Cypriots on the divided island."
^ "Ankara threatens naval action over Cyprus’ Block 12 drill". PanARMENIAN.Net. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
^ Turkey's miscalculation over Cypriot drilling. STRATFOR, September 20, 2011 [1]
^ Marshall, Steve (2011-12-29). "Noble confirms big Cyprus gas find". Upstream Online (NHST Media Group). Retrieved 2011-12-29.
^ "An historic day for Cyprus". Cyprus Mail. 2011-12-29. Retrieved 2011-12-29.