Crete, Ionian Islands and Western Greece oil surveys

Greece of misery, Greece which is one breath away from bankruptcy, Greece filled with anxiety about tomorrow, is trying to prove that there is, indeed, a tomorrow.

Whatever the outcome, the first map after nearly 15 years as a guide for oil surveys in Greece is a reality, after the draft for public bidding was submitted on opengov by the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Ministry for public consultation .

With the stamp of Secretary of State, Mr. John Maniatis, who has estimated that the operation of hydrocarbons may – over time - generate an income of 10 to 15 billion euros in Greece, a blueprint has been created for conducting seismic surveys, for non-exclusive use in the wider area of the Ionian Islands, Western Greece and south of Crete, in order to ensure the transparency of the process and reflect stakeholders’ suggestions.

The procedure pertains to the obtaining of data of a non-exclusive nature from international companies, which will bear the cost of the surveys.

All technical and scientific results will be delivered to the Greek government, and companies, for a certain amount of time only, reserve the right to dispose of this data to international oil companies who are planning to invest in R&D of hydrocarbons.

These surveys are designed to aid expects in their investigations of wide areas with the use of modern technology and enable them to map petroleum areas and geological data which will, in turn, determine the new round of identification of hydrocarbon deposits.

In this way, the Government aims to collect reliable data with which to access potential oil resources, in order to determine the most advantageous conditions for the Greek state and set off a new round of concessions in these marine areas, scheduled to take place before mid-2012.

Public consultation will end on June 17th.

Interest in participating has been expressed, at least in theory, by both domestic and foreign groups. Greek Petroleum, through its Executive Director Mr. Giannis Kostopoulos, has made its interest clear, while the situation is also closely monitored by the Vardinogiannis group, which has been producing oil and natural gas in Egypt. Also interested are Energean Oil & Gas, a Hellenic-owned company which is operating in the Prinos area.

Moreover, during Mr. Maniatis’ visit to Norway, the energy giant Statoil, as well as seismic survey companies TGS and PGS, showed interest in the project. Also, according to information, interest has also been shown by Israeli-American-owned Noble Energy, which operates on large deposits in both Israel and Cyprus.