Thirteen blocks.
Three hold everything.

Cyprus divided its Exclusive Economic Zone into 13 offshore blocks. 7 are licensed, 3 were handed back in January 2025, and 3 have never been awarded at all. Every commercial discovery to date sits in just three of them.

7 licensed 4 operators, 28,390 km²

3 open acreage never awarded, 9,920 km²

3 handed back terms lapsed Jan 2025

6 discoveries all inside Blocks 6, 10, 12

Sources: MECI, CHC, operator announcements EU OJ COORDINATES

The EEZ at a glance Positions derived from the official block polygons — open the map for true geometry

Licensed Open Handed back Gas discovered

CYPRUS

1 5,740 km², open 2 handed back 3 handed back 4 2,740 km², open 5 ExxonMobil 6 Calypso · Cronos +1 Eni 7 TotalEnergies 8 Eni 9 handed back 10 Glaucus · Pegasus ExxonMobil 11 TotalEnergies · sub-commercial find 12 Aphrodite Chevron 13 1,440 km², open

Block 10 is among the smallest blocks in the zone at 2,560 km² — and holds more gas than the other twelve combined.

Where the gas is

Three blocks hold all 6 commercial discoveries — and all three development tracks.

Block 10 ExxonMobil 60% · QatarEnergy 40%

Biggest prize

Glaucus · Pegasus

Declared commercial 30 June 2026. Estimated 7–9 tcf combined — appraisal drilling starts late 2026.

2,560 km²

2017 licensed

~2033 production

Block 6 Eni 50% · TotalEnergies 50%

First gas

Calypso · Cronos · Zeus

Three finds in the Zohr-type carbonate play. Cronos is tied back to Egypt and targets first Cypriot gas in 2028.

4,570 km²

2017 licensed

2028 first gas

Block 12 Chevron 35% · Shell 35% · NewMed Energy 30%

The first

Aphrodite

Licensed in 2008, discovered in 2011, still not producing. Egypt has contracted the full output; FID is due late 2026–27.

4,600 km²

2008 licensed

2030–31 first gas

Three blocks have never been awarded

Blocks 1, 4, 13 — 9,920 km² in total — have sat outside every licensing round since 2007. Block 1 is the largest single block in the entire zone. With the province de-risked by 6 discoveries and three blocks freshly returned, the case for a fourth round keeps building.

Licensing framework and past rounds →