NICOSIA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- An "extensive strain" of natural gas has been discovered by Italian ENI and French Total consortium during a drilling in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone, Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said on Thursday.

Lakkotrypis did not announce any quantity of gas contained in the field, code-named Calypso, about 75 km of the southwest shores of Cyprus.

"Further analysis of collected data is required to give an assessment of the actual quantities of gas," he said.

But he added that the drilling has confirmed that the geology of the field was very similar to that of the giant Egyptian field called Zohr, which is believed to contain about 32 trillion cubic feet of gas.

"The discovery of the gas field is an especially positive development as it increases the gas potential of Cyprus and also confirms the existence of a hydrocarbons system and a carbon geological layer in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone, similar to the Egyptian Zohr," he said.