A consortium led by ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy has identified a 350-meter column of clean natural gas at the Pegasus-1 exploration well in Block 10 of Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone, the Cypriot government said on Monday. The well, drilled by the drillship Valaris DS-9 about 190 kilometers southwest of the island at a water depth of roughly 1.9 kilometers, is the sixth gas find in Cypriot waters since 2011 and the second in Block 10. Pegasus-1 follows the partners’ Glaucus-1 discovery in the same block in 2019, which was later appraised at an estimated 3.7 trillion cubic feet. The fresh find strengthens Cyprus’s ambition to position itself as an Eastern Mediterranean energy hub and could aid Europe’s efforts to diversify supplies away from Russian hydrocarbons. No resource estimate or development timetable was provided. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said additional analysis will be carried out over the next several months to determine commercial viability. Energy Minister George Panastasiou has signalled that cooperation among licence holders and links to existing Egyptian liquefaction infrastructure are options under consideration for future exports.