The US company Chevron has expressed interest in becoming active in hydrocarbon exploration in the country. This is the second American company, after ExxonMobil, to enter the game, expressing interest in exploration in the marine area southwest of the Peloponnese and as far west as Crete, bordering the marine plots of a corresponding tender in 2014.

It should be noted that Chevron had already proceeded to purchase all the data from seismic and other surveys in southern and western Greece. Among these are the data from the extensive seismic survey conducted by PGS in the Ionian Sea and the marine area south of Crete in 2012.

OBJECTIVES OF INTEREST

Commenting on this development, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis noted that "we expect significant positive consequences for the success of the effort to identify economic natural gas reserves, as an additional 11,000 square kilometers of exploration area (+25%) are added to the existing exploration areas, which increases the chances of identifying even more targets of interest. In addition, another investor is added to the role of operator, which means that the chances of drilling more exploration wells, which are required for successful exploration, are increased."

The announcement was made yesterday by the Ministry of Environment and Energy, while the next steps include:

• within the week, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources will issue the relevant decision.
• which will provide for the exact area and the immediate launch of an international tender in the near future, the spatial extension of the exploration will be evaluated.
• the submission by the EDEYEP of the relevant Strategic Environmental Impact Study.

NEW AREAS

In parallel:

Already licensed marine hydrocarbon exploration areas in the Ionian Sea are released, which will spatially expand and make continuous the Ionian Sea National Marine Park. The study, which is nearing completion, covers the area from Antikythera, covering a continuous maritime zone along the southern and western coast of the Peloponnese, to Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Ithaca and Lefkada, and enclosing the environmentally important islands of Strophades. An agreement has already been reached with the leasing company for the release of the detached parts

In cooperation with Energean, which is the contractor, the Katakolo concession, which concerns a small oil field near the west coast of the Peloponnese, is to be released and included in the new National Marine Park. It is recalled that the company expects from December 2019 the environmental permit, following the positive opinion in the public consultation. Energean had obtained, for this accredited deposit, an exploitation license until 2041, which, without progressing with exploration, was a "loss" for the company. The question remains open as to whether the company will be paid any compensation for the 14 million barrels of potential reserves identified in the field.

ESTIMATES

According to the published estimates of the EDPS, the potential and probable reserves in the areas where exploratory drilling has not yet been carried out range from 24 trillion cubic feet or 680 bcm of gas (risked recoverable reserves). 

STATION

At the same time, the ExxonMobil and Helleniq Energy consortium is in the process of making an investment decision to drill an exploratory well in the areas west and southwest of Crete. Besides these, in the exploration phase are:

• an onshore area in Ioannina
• 3 marine areas in the Ionian Sea.

CYPRUS

Developments for the two giants are also underway in Cyprus, where on Sunday the Navtex was issued for Exxon Mobil to start drilling in Block 5 of the EEZ. This marks the start of drilling and exploration by Exxon Mobil and Qatar Energy with the drilling rig Valaris 9 already on site. In addition, by the beginning of next month, the approval by the Cypriot government of Chevron's plan in the Development and Production Plan for the Aphrodite field is expected, according to Cypriot media reports. The same publications note that the information they are gathering is that the plan is moving "in the right direction.".