NICOSIA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - ExxonMobil ( XOM ) will

drill a well off Cyprus in January in its pursuit of natural

gas, a senior executive said on Thursday, one of several energy

majors focusing on the region as Europe diversifies from Russia.

The east Mediterranean has yielded some major gas

discoveries in recent years, while a disruption in energy

supplies from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has

sharpened Europe's attention on securing supplies elsewhere.

Exxon, which won Cyprus licences in 2017, reported a natural

gas find in 2019 at a well dubbed Glaucus. Drillings next year

include two new wells; Pegasus and the highly promising Electra,

a senior executive responsible for global exploration at the

conglomerate said.

"We've spent the last two years collecting very detailed,

three dimensional seismic data ... We've identified several

large prospects, and the next stage is to bring in a drilling

rig and to test those," said John Ardill, Vice-president for

global exploration at ExxonMobil ( XOM ).

"We'll spud our first well in mid-January, so we are very

excited about that," he told a conference in Nicosia.

ExxonMobil ( XOM ) is licensed to explore for hydrocarbons over two

offshore blocks in a partnership with Qatar Energy. Other

multinationals in the region include U.S.'s Chevron,

Italy's Eni and France's TotalEnergies

Cyprus could consider a new licensing round for offshore

exploration since interest in the area is robust, Energy

Minister George Papanastasiou said earlier this month.

Electra, located in the so-called Block 5 out of Cyprus's

total 13 offshore exploration areas, was a very large prospect

and had the potential to be a standalone development though it

would require appraisal drilling for any final conclusions,

Ardill said. Pegasus was close to already-discovered Glaucus in

block 10, and Cronos, an Eni/Total discovery lying just north in

Block 6.

"There is huge potential for gas exploration," Ardill said.