AlHijjah 27, 1432, Nov 23, 2011, SPA -- Cyprus said it will launch a second licensing round for more exploratory drilling for oil and gas off its southern coast in four to six weeks, according to AP. Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou says the Cabinet on Wednesday authorized officials to prepare a call for bids to drill inside the island's 17,000 square-mile (51,000 square-kilometer) exclusive economic zone. The zone is divided into 13 blocks. Stefanou said bids will be invited for all 13 except the one where U.S. firm Noble Energy is now drilling. Noble estimates the field may hold between 3 and 9 trillion cubic feet (85-250 billion cubic meters) of natural gas.
