A proposal to start the hydrocarbon exploration process in two marine areas has been officially accepted following proposals that – as announced today by the Hellenic Hydrocarbon and Energy Resources Management Company, submitted by Chevron and HELLENiQ for the areas “South of the Peloponnese” and “Block A2”.

Specifically, the HELLENiQ submitted a recommendation to the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE) regarding the initiation of the licensing process for the award of exclusive rights for hydrocarbon exploration and production, the exact boundaries of the new areas and the tender procedure to be followed in order to issue the necessary ministerial decisions. The recommendation was accepted by the Ministry’s 7032/417 decision.

In addition, the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEA) for the strategic environmental assessment of the new exploration areas was also submitted today by the NDEP to the Directorate of Environmental Licensing (DIPA) of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. The study area concerns a narrow maritime zone extending between the southwest and south of the Peloponnese and the west of Crete, between areas that already have environmental conditions as issued at the time of their inclusion in the international concession tenders of 2014 and 2018.

The CEO of EDEYEP, Aristophanis Stefatos, underlined the importance of the recent developments:“The expression of interest by Chevron and HELLENiQ Energy for new offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production areas is a very important and time-critical development. Following the successful completion of the first phase of exploration programs in ‘Southwest Crete’ by ExxonMobil, ‘Block 10’ and ‘Ionian’ by HELLENiQ Energy, and ‘Block 2’ by Energean, the interest in new areas confirms our assessments that Greece has significant potential for the discovery of economically exploitable natural gas fields.”

The EDEIP is finalising the draft invitation of international interest for the “Block A2” and “South of Peloponnese” areas and will submit it to the Ministry later this month. Following the approval of the Ministry of Environment, the call for interest will be published in the Government Gazette and the Official Journal of the European Union. The date of publication of the latter will be the date of commencement of the tender, with interested parties being invited to submit a binding offer within 90 days. After the closing date, the NECC will proceed with the evaluation of the tenders in order to then submit its recommendation to the Ministry.

In relation to the next steps, Stefatos noted: “We are working systematically, and in close cooperation with the relevant Ministry, to conduct an international tender of high standards, with a view to selecting a contractor within this year. In the context of the excellent cooperation we have built during the preparatory contacts that preceded this, we are continuing our discussions with Chevron.”