Sensitivity assessment of habitats and key species to pressures associated with exploratory offshore drilling operations in Block 6 – Prospect area Calypso, EEZ Cyprus – Completed 2017

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Title:
Sensitivity assessment of habitats and key species to pressures associated with exploratory offshore drilling operations in Block 6 – Prospect area Calypso, EEZ Cyprus

Duration:      
ca 2 months (July 2017 – August 2017)

Funded by:
ENI Cyprus Ltd.

Subcontracted by the joint venture:
HPC AG
Nicolaides & Associates Ltd
Pro Iter Ambiente S.r.l.
TEA Sistemi S.p.A.

Project Description:
The sensitivity assessment is a generic and widely used procedure to determine the likely effects of the pressures on a ‘hypothetical’ population. Sensitivity to anthropogenic pressures is primarily determined by the features (habitat or key species) ability to resist that pressure by virtue of its characteristic properties, e.g. hardness of substratum or physiological tolerance limits and behavioral plasticity (i.e. Resistance). At the same time, sensitivity also depends upon the capacity of the feature to recover from impacts following reduction or removal of the pressure (i.e. Resilience). Resistance and resilience scores to standardized pressures are combined to yield assessments of sensitivity to human activities.

The scope of this work was the application of a sensitivity assessment on the ecosystem features of the prospect area to  exploratory offshore drilling operations. The prospect area ‘Calypso’ has a surface area of 88 km² and is located in the south-eastern corner of Block 6 (Cyprus EEZ), about 140 km southwest from the Cypriot coastline (Paphos, west Cyprus). The Calypso prospect area lies at a minimum distance of 30 km west from the foothills of the Eratosthenes Seamount.

A final sensitivity assessment report was delivered to the consortium in August 2017.