Hydrocarbons: a new page in Crete through Chevron – Potential resources of 200 billion cubic meters in the Ionian Sea

Last week’s developments raised important expectations for Greece’s hydrocarbon sector, some successful the 4 caller offshore areas southbound of Crete and the Peloponnese, arsenic good arsenic successful “Block 2” successful the Ionian Sea, which is astatine a much precocious signifier of exploration. The 4 caller areas, pursuing the completion of the planetary tender announced successful June, are acceptable to beryllium awarded jointly to Chevron and HELLENiQ Energy. For Block 2, Energean CEO Mathios Rigas officially announced that the archetypal estimation of imaginable resources is 7 trillion cubic feet (around 200 cardinal cubic meters) of earthy gas.

Beyond the economical value (investment, jobs, vigor self-sufficiency, and reduced spending connected hydrocarbon imports if improvement proves feasible), these developments are of large geopolitical value for Greece. As Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted past week during his gathering with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Chevron’s involvement successful exploration southbound of Crete reaffirms Greece’s sovereign rights successful the area.

Domestic hydrocarbon accumulation would besides marque Greece a pillar of EU vigor security—not lone arsenic a transit hub for vigor resources, which it already is, but besides arsenic a supplier.

The tender for the 4 blocks (“Block A2,” “South of Peloponnese,” “South of Crete 1,” and “South of Crete 2”) was launched aft expressions of involvement by HELLENiQ Energy (for Block A2) and Chevron (for the different three). Last Wednesday, astatine the deadline, the 2 companies submitted a associated bid for each 4 blocks. The valuation committee has already been formed, and the adjacent steps volition beryllium the drafting and signing of the contracts, followed by parliamentary ratification.

In the lawsuit of Block 2 successful the Ionian Sea (30 km westbound of Corfu, astatine the Greece–Italy maritime boundary), the concession statement was ratified successful 2018. The existent licence holders are Energean (75%) and HELLENiQ Upstream (25%).

As Energean CEO Mathios Rigas revealed during the group’s half-year results briefing for analysts, the archetypal assets estimation (gas initially successful place, successful method terms) is astir 7 trillion cubic feet, oregon 200 cardinal cubic meters of gas. However, to find whether a commercially exploitable reservoir exists, exploratory drilling volition beryllium required. Given the outgo and hazard of specified drilling, the Energean–HELLENiQ consortium is seeking a spouse to articulation the project. Water depths successful Block 2 scope from 500 to 1,500 meters, portion the beingness of a confirmed petroleum strategy successful Western Greece (West Katakolon) and successful the Adriatic Sea marque the country peculiarly promising. Energean has besides requested exploration rights for the adjacent marine country connected the Italian side.

With the summation of the 4 caller blocks, the fig of areas granted oregon nether concession for hydrocarbon exploration rises to nine. The others are: Block 2 (75% Energean, 25% HELLENiQ); the Ionian artifact (100% HELLENiQ); Block 10 successful the Kyparissia Gulf (100% HELLENiQ); and the areas westbound and southwest of Crete (70% ExxonMobil, 30% HELLENiQ). The onshore Ioannina artifact has been returned to the state, portion the Katakolon find remains pending owed to the planned designation of a marine parkland successful the Ionian Sea. Production is ongoing astatine Prinos, operated by Energean.