Initial results of 2D seismic surveys conducted by the ExxonMobil-Helleniq Energy consortium at plots off Crete are expected in March when the consortium plans to inform the Greek government.
If these early results are promising, the ExxonMobil-Helleniq Energy consortium is expected to seek permission from the Greek government to conduct exploratory drilling.
In 2022, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during a visit to the headquarters of EDEY – now reformed to EDEYEP, the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company – had announced that the country needs clarity on whether it possesses exploitable deposits.
Greece’s hydrocarbon prospects could go either way, though, according to some sources, preliminary results are encouraging enough for the ExxonMobil-Helleniq Energy consortium to seek permission for exploratory drilling.
Interest in EDEYEP’s program, announced over a year ago, for 2D and 3D seismic surveys at a total of six blocks, both onshore and offshore – in Corfu, the Ionian Sea, Ioannina, the Gulf of Kyparissia, and west and southwest of Crete – is now heating up again.
At present, the two offshore Cretan blocks surveyed by the ExxonMobil-Helleniq Energy consortium are attracting the most interest. It has been rumoured for quite some time now that Chevron, the world’s second-biggest producer of natural gas, is interested in joining this consortium.
