Eight foreign oil and petrol companies have expressed interest in collaborating with Hellenic Petroleum Group, revealed the company’s general manager of exploration and production Yiannis Grigoriou, Wednesday. Total, Shell, Repsol, Japex, Dana Petroleum, INA and Hunt are in talks with ELPE to start hydrocarbon exploration in the areas of Arta-Preveza and the north-eastern Peloponnese. The Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy agreed to the concession for the two areas, with the review by the Court of Audit remaining, before the ratification by the Greek parliament. Speaking at business forum held at the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Grigoriou said that ELPE was currently in talks with 25 companies for the energy exploration across Greece. Meanwhile, the Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management is attempting to revive investor interest for the other 17 out of 20 areas that had been opened to tenders in 2014, which had failed to produce any results. More seismic surveys are expected to take place in the areas south of Corfu, the Ionian Sea, the area between Crete and Peloponnese and the Cretan Sea, which had initially been depicted by PGS in 2014.