Discovery of a "very large" gas field on average

Cypriot authorities announced Thursday the discovery of huge natural gas reserves of US energy giant "Exxon Mobil", likely to increase tensions with neighboring Turkey.

This discovery is the largest in the world in the exclusive economic zone of the island so far, according to the Cypriot Minister of Energy, George Lakotripis.

"This is one of the greatest discoveries in the world in the last 20 years," said Lacotripis.

Preliminary analysis showed that the reserve contained between 140 and 230 billion cubic meters of natural gas, he said.

Exxon Mobil's vice president, Tristan Aspray, who attended the Nicosia announcement, called the preliminary results "encouraging."

The US company holds 60% of the 10 blocks of Cyprus and the remaining 40% of Qatar Petroleum.

Turkey also claims to have the right to explore off the divided island.

Ankara warned international oil companies to explore the disputed waters, with Turkey supporting the Turkish north of Cyprus in the northern third of the island, which is recognized only by Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned foreign oil companies to bypass the "lines", while officials said Turkish ships would soon start their own exploration operations.

But Nicosia has entered into agreements as part of its bid to become a regional player in terms of energy resources.

Texan-based Noble Energy announced its first discovery off Cyprus in 2011 at Aphrodite (Block 12), for an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of fuel.

This block is economically feasible, but an action plan for the next steps has not yet been finalized.

Egypt's discovery of a huge "return" field in 2015, adjacent to Block 10, has reinforced speculation that Cypriot waters may contain similar reserves.

Cyprus needs to find more reserves for service stations in its territory to be economically viable.

Cyprus planned to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility allowing it to export by ship to Asia and Europe, but the precautions previously mentioned were not enough for the viability of the project.

Cyprus and Egypt are considering the possibility of transferring gas from the Aphrodite field to Egypt through submerged pipelines, and hope to start exporting gas and possibly oil by 2022.