NICOSIA, April 14 (Reuters) - An exploration drill by ExxonMobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab offshore Cyprus has failed to find commercial quantities of natural gas, the island's energy ministry said on Monday.

Drilling operations had been completed at the Elektra-1 well in Block 5 of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Cyprus, it said.

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"Well data and preliminary evaluation work indicate the presence of natural gas in non-commercial quantities," the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry said.

ExxonMobil executives had previously described the prospect, based on seismic data assessments, as promising.

The drill was conducted by a consortium of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Cyprus as operator, and with QatarEnergy Internation E&P LLC.

According to the operator's early assessment post-drilling, Elektra-1 yielded encouraging results, confirming the existence of a hydrocarbon system and good quality reservoirs.

The data collected during the drilling operations was being evaluated to determine the consortium's future plans in Block 5, the energy ministry said.

A drillship deployed by the consortium would now move to another block in Cyprus's EEZ to conduct exploration drilling at another well, named Pegasus-1.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxonmobil-drill-off-cyprus-fails-find-gas-commercial-amounts-ministry-2025-04-14/