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In the depths of an economic crisis, the islanders of Cyprus are looking out to sea for the promise of a gas bonanza on the horizon to come to their rescue.
The promise is centered on an empty lot leading down to the sea, sandwiched between a power station and naval base, that is to be home to a gas liquefaction plant which will net tens of billions of dollars.
Cypriot authorities are dangling the promise of salvation for an economy desperately in need of an EU bailout through a gas bonanza.
"As a country, we are committed to it. It will be built," said Charles Ellinas, executive president of Cyprus National Hydrocarbon Company, a privately run but government-financed structure set up in January to manage and develop the sector.
In December 2011, US major Noble Energy announced the discovery of gas reserves of up to 8.0 trillion cubic feet (226.5 billion cubic meters) in a field named Aphrodite, with an estimated value of 100 billion euros.
Cyprus has in the space of a few weeks signed additional agreements with French energy giant Total and a consortium between ENI of Italy and South Korea's Kogas for oil and gas exploration in its eastern Mediterranean waters.
"There is still work to do to prove that the gas is here, but we are very optimistic. Why would major companies like Total invest so much money in drilling if there was nothing to be found?" asked Ellinas.
Last week, Energy Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis said: "At last our lenders must realize that this economy has prospects and there cannot be any doubt about whether the debt will be sustainable... as a result... of our natural wealth."
Located just a few miles (kilometers) from the resort of Limassol on the south coast, the Vassilikos site also aims to treat gas from Israeli and Lebanese waters, with initial output of five billion cubic meters (176 billion cubic feet) a year.
Ellinas said the figure would be more than tripled.
The target date for completion of the first phase of the project -- estimated to cost almost $10 billion (7.4 billion euros) -- is 2015, with construction starting next year and exports in 2019.
The government says the work will create between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs, mostly for specialized foreign staff, and also generate four times more indirect jobs, a boon for a country with only 840,000 residents.
But Peter Wallace, a British consultant on LNG projects, is skeptical, regarding the timetable as too ambitious for such a small nation.
"Here they have no concept of the scale of things. There are too many people who want to put their hand on the pie and don't know anything about the matter," according to Wallace.
"Cypriot people are more concerned about what they can get for themselves than the good of the island. They are more interested in making the wrong decision than in making any decision at all, as we saw with the explosion. And they've got no money."
An arms cache blast in July 2011 at the nearby Mari naval base left 13 dead and knocked out the main power station, sparking political rows and adding power cuts to a banking and financial crisis on a holiday island long used to its affluent status.
Growth has since been replaced by recession and unemployment has more than doubled to more than 14 percent, leaving Cyprus at
the mercy of an EU bailout plan which is conditional on harsh austerity measures.
Apart from the technical challenges, the Greek Cypriot administration of divided Cyprus faces the ire of neighboring giant Turkey as it presses ahead with its ambition of becoming a regional energy hub.
Turkey has angrily protested against Nicosia's energy search, despite the involvement of US and Israeli firms, branding it illegal and beginning its own exploratory drilling off the breakaway north of the island.
But all three main candidates in Sunday's presidential election have thrown their full weight behind the gas project.
"Everybody wants this to succeed, because there is nothing else. This is our future," Ellinas said.
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