Noble Energy, a company based in Texas, the United States, estimated the natural gas deposits in a Cyprus offshore field it has started to tap were between 3 trillion and 9 trillion cubic feet (between 85.0 billion and 254.9 billion cubic meters), Cyprus state television said on Tuesday. The country\'s own estimates of the gas deposits were in the range of 9 trillion to 12 trillion cubic feet (254.9 billion to 339.8 billion cubic meters), the Cyprus state television quoted an unnamed government source as saying. Noble Energy started drilling in a field 160 kilometers south of Cyprus last September, causing strong objections of Turkey, which is controlling the northern part of the eastern Mediterranean island since 1974, in reaction to a coup engineered by Greek army officers. An U.S. frigate is currently sailing south of Cyprus after it paid a visit to a Cypriot port earlier this month in what was described as an operation to protect the interests of Noble Energy.