Cyprus's Minister of Energy said today, Monday, that Cyprus and Israel are working on an agreement to build a pipeline that transfers natural gas from the two countries to the island state located in the eastern Mediterranean, where it will be liquefied for export by ships to Europe and possibly other places.

The minister, Giorgos Papanastasiou, said today, Monday, that he will visit Israel soon to reach an official agreement in this regard.

He explained that once the deal is signed, the pipeline can be completed within 18 months.

Building a gas liquefaction plant in Cyprus will take two and a half years once investors are secured.

So far, five large gas fields have been discovered off the southern coast of Cyprus, and Israel owns 11 such fields: the largest, called Leviathan, contains an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet (623 billion cubic meters) of gas.

On the other hand, Papanastasiou said he will meet later this month with energy companies licensed to explore for oil and gas within Cyprus's exclusive economic zone - including French Total, Italian Eni, ExxonMobil, and Chevron - to determine ways to cooperate on projects that would accelerate obtaining the gas.

The minister said that Israel agreed to the proposal submitted by the Cypriot government regarding the pipeline and the liquefaction plant, which was unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, as the eastern Mediterranean has sufficient gas deposits.

Papanastasiou told reporters that most of these are within Israel's exclusive economic zone, but Cyprus also has enough quantities for this project to be realized.

The minister explained that this project is a shortened version of the EastMed pipeline idea.

This proposal - for a 1,900-kilometer (1,300-mile), $6 billion pipeline designed to transport regional gas directly to Europe - has become less favored in recent years.

He explained that instead of being directly connected by pipeline to Europe, the processed gas from Cyprus can reach international markets by ships.

Papanastasiou said: "When you have liquefied natural gas, it can go in any direction... Europe needs it more now, but markets can also be found in Asia."

In December, the previous Cypriot government said it was considering a similar plan proposal as the Russian war in Ukraine worsened the energy crisis, according to the Associated Press.

Papanastasiou said that Cypriot and Israeli authorities will need a few more months to negotiate a separate agreement regarding the amount of gas from the Cypriot Aphrodite gas field that fell within the adjacent Israeli waters.

The minister said that the proposal for a pipeline to transfer Cypriot and Egyptian gas to the liquefaction plans in Egypt for export remains separate from the Israeli-Cypriot plan.