CYPRUS
 
Cyprus Awards Four Offshore Licenses
 
By Gary Lakes
 
The government of Cyprus on 30 October awarded four of the offshore blocks tendered in this year’s licensing round, all to large politically-connected oil companies.
 
A consortium comprised of France’s Total E&P Activities Petrolieres (operator), and Russia’s Novatek and GazpromBank was awarded Block 9, the most contested of the nine blocks among the bidders. Total E&P was...