Global energy giant Chevron Corp. has awarded Australia-based engineering services firm Worley the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to develop the Aphrodite gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cyprus—projected as a $4-billion development.
The FEED award is a reimbursable engineering and procurement contract but with no contract value disclosed. Worley had done earlier preliminary engineering for the development.
Corporate unit Chevron Cyprus Ltd. operates the field, which holds an estimated 3.5 trillion to 4 trillion cu ft of natural gas plus condensate following its 2011 discovery by Noble Energy, now a unit of the U.S. parent.
In awarding the FEED contract, Chevron, which has a 35% share of the development along with Shell’s equal share and Israel-based NewMed Energy with 30%, have signaled an intention to proceed to the next-phase. The front-end work is set to finish In December and a project final investment decision is planned for January 2027.
“We are happy that Chevron has finally decided to proceed with the development of the Aphrodite field,” a source in the Cyprus energy ministry told ENR.
Governments of Cyprus and Egypt have signed preliminary agreements for gas supply, with a subsea pipeline aimed to feed most of the volume into the Egyptian grid and the balance processed into LNG for re-export.
In a statement, Worley said its work will cover “the full Aphrodite field development, including a portion of the subsea systems, floating production unit, export gas pipeline and onshore receiving facilities,” as well as equipment procurement.
The award appears to progress a project favored by Cyprus since the field discovery to supply gas for its own power generation, for Egypt and for the European market. The country is a European Union member. Development investment has faced obstacles that include Aphrodite’s distance from the Cyprus shore, the subsea pipeline cost to that country and the island’s small gas market.
