ELENA BECATOROS
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s energy and environment minister says U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil has begun prospecting for natural gas off the coast of southwestern Greece, kicking off a delayed project as Europe seeks alternative energy sources due to the war in Ukraine.
ExxonMobil’s ship is already in operation in the area, Energy and Environment Minister Kostas Skrekas said on state-run ERT television Thursday, just four days after Greece’s prime minister announced the project was to start. The move comes amid heightened tensions with neighboring Turkey, and is a project that has been heavily criticized by environmental groups.
“The ship has begun. At this moment it is laying the cables” which are needed for the sonic waves used in the prospecting, Skrekas said.
“The reserves we speculate exist southwest of Crete and the Peloponnese might be the last hope the mining industry has to find a large reserve ... in the region of southeastern Europe, in our region,” he said. However, he noted, “until we drill and see what is really there, everything is on the level of speculation.”
