An event titled “Greece Offshore Licensing Round 2014” began in London yesterday in the presence of high-level petroleum industry representatives eyeing 20 offshore licensing opportunities in Western Greece and South Crete. Taking the podium, Greek Environment, Energy & Climate Change Minister Yannis Maniatis unveiled Greek plans to cut tax rates for oil and gas companies in order to motivate them to help Greece exploit its untapped offshore hydrocarbon resources.

This means that, in future, oil and gas explorers will pay 25% tax instead of the current 40%. Furthermore, 5% of the tax will go to help local communities. Mr. Maniatis said that the reason for the slash is to give investors further incentives to invest in Greece in the future, however he did not say when the new tax rates would apply.

Mr. Maniatis also announced the tender of Greece’s first large-scale oil and gas exploration in an ambitious program to discover big hydrocarbon reserves. Unfortunately, attempts to make big oil discoveries proved fruitless over the past years, however large gas finds in nearby Israel and Cyprus have spurred on Greek hopes.

On the sidelines of the conference that ends today, Greek delegates in London are meeting with representatives from major companies such as BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total and many more.