Cyprus bailout: Kremlin 'could punish Europe' in reprisal for bank levy

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2. Analysis: Cypriot gas no fix for country's funding gap

LONDON | Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:11pm EDT
(Reuters) - Cyprus' gas is worth less than $2 billion based on reserves found so far and there may be too little to develop anyway, leaving plans to mortgage them against a $13 billion bailout unlikely to fly, Reuters research has found.

So far, an estimated 200 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas worth $80 billion at current prices have been discovered in the Aphrodite gas field in Cypriot waters.

The Cypriot government says that it hopes to begin exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 2018, although most analysts say production is unlikely to begin before 2020 and some doubt whether the fields will be developed at all.

"If Cyprus has found only 7 trillion cubic feet (200 bcm) right now, that's not yet enough to think about doing LNG given the number of projects ahead in the queue, such as the over 100 tcf of gas already found in East Africa," said Kim Fustier, oil and gas analyst at Credit Suisse.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/22/us-eurozone-cyprus-gas-idUSBRE92L11H20130322