Greece to invite oil exploration
Greece in early 2012 will invite oil and gas exploration off its western shores in the hopes of tapping reserves of up to 300 million barrels of crude, officials said on Thursday.
Junior energy minister Yiannis Maniatis said Cabinet had approved drilling in the Gulf of Patra, the sea region west of Ioannina and Katakolo off the western Peloponnese coast.
?All three areas will be assigned in early 2012 through an international tender,? Maniatis said after a Cabinet meeting.
?The exploration involves both gas and oil,? the junior minister said, adding: ?there is a real interest by oil companies.?
A contractor is expected to be appointed within a year.
The Energy Ministry said the three areas had been probed years ago by previous contractors but technical difficulties, such as sea depth and high pressure, in addition to low oil prices, made exploration unprofitable at the time.
?We are sending a strong signal to international markets by attracting interest from the oil industry after over a decade of inaction,? the ministry said.
The goal is to ?attract high-level investment, create jobs and speed up the exploration timetable,? it said.
The Gulf of Patra is thought to hold some 200 million barrels of crude oil, while another 50-80 million barrels are believed to lie near Ioannina and another 3 million barrels near Katakolo.
The cash-strapped Greek state, which is struggling to escape default, could draw up to 14 billion euros ($19 billion) over the next 15 years, the semi-state Athens News Agency said.
Seismic surveys to determine additional hydrocarbon caches will also be held in the Ionian Sea and the sea region south of Crete, ANA said. [AFP]
