Ambassador Pyatt’s Remarks at the 2nd Energy Union Leaders Academy Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation - US EMBASSY ATHENS GREECE

Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation

Panorama City Hall

April 12, 2019, 16:00

Let me start this short address by thanking the Greek Energy Forum and the American College of Thessaloniki for organizing this “Energy Union Future Leaders” Academy, bringing together young leaders from 18 countries to discuss the opportunities and challenges in the vitally important energy sector. I can’t think of a better location for this event than Thessaloniki, exactly at the moment that northern Greece is reestablishing its role as the commercial and energy hub of the Balkans. I’m also especially glad that this is happening on the campus of Anatolia College, which is really one of the hidden gems of the U.S. legacy of support in northern Greece, and I’m delighted to be on the campus on such a beautiful day.

Two of the Academy’s main objectives are the promotion of energy diversification and energy security, which happen to mirror priorities of the United States government. And I think the energy security of our European partners and allies has been a longstanding priority for the United States, but it’s only over the past few years, that Greece has become a real leader in these efforts. I know that the Greek Minister of Energy, Minister Stathakis, heard this message very clearly from our Secretary of State and our Secretary of Energy when he was in Houston last month, and Secretary Pompeo repeated a similar message when he recently participated in the first 3+1 summit meeting in Jerusalem with Prime Ministers Netanyahu, Anastasiadis, and Tsipras.

Repsol and Hellenic Petroleum partner on offshore Greece exploration - OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY

10 APRIL 2019

Spanish energy company Repsol and Greece-based Hellenic Petroleum have signed lease agreements to conduct exploration in two offshore blocks in Greece.

The joint venture (JV) of the two companies will conduct oil and gas exploration in an offshore block in the Ionian Sea. Hellenic Petroleum will also carry out exploration in another block off the Peloponnese peninsula.

Reuters reported that the two blocks are situated in the western region of the country, an under-explored area with very little information on its hydrocarbon potentiality.

The agreement comes at a time when Greece is working to bolster its oil and gas sector with major discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean region.

Hellenic also has rights to explore oil and gas in other offshore and onshore areas of the country, with plans to conduct the first test drilling off the Peloponnese peninsula in 2020.

“A big round of lease agreements for the exploration and development of hydrocarbons is closing with these two agreements we are signing today.”

Investors frustrated by license delays for Crete exploration - ENERGY PRESS

01/March/2019

Contrary to Cyprus, providing oil majors investor-friendly conditions for their hydrocarbon exploration activities, ExxonMobil’s recent Glaucus-1 gas discovery emerging as a shining example, conditions in Greece are undermining the efforts of investors.

A consortium comprising Total, Exxon Mobil and ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum), established for hydrocarbon exploration work off Crete, has been held back by Greek government delays over the past few months.

Though most of the preliminary work has been completed, the trio of investors is still waiting for the Greek government to issue an exploration license, which would enable it to commence work at blocks off Crete.

An environmental impact study provided by the consortium for blocks west and southwest of Crete is said to have inexplicably fallen into stagnancy at one of the offices of the energy ministry’s environmental division over the past couple of months. It needs to be approved as part of the license issuing procedure.

Greece moving closer to sales of ELPE and DEPA, minister asserts - ENERGY PRESS / BLOOMBERG

09/JAN/2019

Greece has crossed a key hurdle to the sale of a controlling stake in ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum) as it rushes to meet its privatization pledge after emerging from its third and final bailout.

In a Bloomberg interview, energy minister Giorgos Stathakis said Greece has reached an accord with potential buyers of the ELPE stake – valued at the current market price of 1.16 billion euros and seen as a flagship privatization – over the control of its wholly owned unit, ELPE Upstream. Under the accord, the state will own 50.1 percent of ELPE Upstream, which holds Hellenic Petroleum’s hydrocarbon exploration and concession rights.

“Talks with the potential buyers of the 50.1 percent stake in Hellenic Petroleum over Elpe Upstream have finished and all issues have been resolved,” Stathakis said in the interview in Athens.

Dreams versus reality in the push for Cyprus gas - CYPRUS MAIL

DECEMBER 16, 2018
Charles Ellinas

Cyprus on the brink of big decisions on energy was the subject of the Sixth Energy Symposium organised by the Institute of Energy North-East Europe (IENE) and Financial Media Way (FMW) in Nicosia on December 4.

The key message was that hydrocarbons offer serious opportunities that with careful handling can benefit Cyprus geopolitics and economy as well as the wider region.

In their introductory speeches, the organisers of the symposium, IENE executive director, Costis Stambolis, and managing director of FMW, Iosef Iosef, said the symposium stressed the success and significance of the energy profile of Cyprus internationally.

President Nicos Anastasiades, in his opening speech described the three pillars that guide the government’s energy plans:

• Development of hydrocarbons, that belong to all legal citizens of Cyprus
• Overcoming Cyprus’ energy isolation and developing other energy sources, including renewables
• Close energy cooperation with those neighbouring countries that are willing partners.

He talked about the drive to create an East Med Energy Corridor to connect East Med’s hydrocarbon resources to Europe. This includes LNG exports, as well as the East Med pipeline. He considers this to be key in terms of contributing to EU’s energy needs.

Energy Min Stathakis inaugurates LNG expansion project in Revithousa - ANA-MPA

22 Νοεμβρίου 2018, 20:21:26

Greece on Thursday officially inaugurated the third tank of LNG in Revithousa. Environment and Energy Minister George Stathakis, addressing the inauguration ceremony said the project was creating new data in the natural gas market.

Presenting the government’s policy on natural gas, Stathakis said it was focusing on preserving networks under state control and their expansion in 18 regional cities, strengthening interconnections in the Balkans with projects such as the IGB pipeline and an intention to interconnect with FYROM, transforming Greece into a natural gas hub. He added that DESFA is playing a strategic role in this policy.

The Revithousa LNG terminal is one of the 13 operating in Europe and the only one in the Balkans. With the addition of the third tank the terminal’s capacity rises from 130,000 to 225,000 cubic meters, or 1,000-1,400 cubic meters per hour. The project also included an upgrading of port installations allowing biggest ships to dock (260,000 dwt from 180,000 currently). The project’s budget totalled 143 million euros, using community funds (35 pct), loans worth 80 million euros from the European Investment Bank and DESFA’s own capital.

Greece signed the Energy agreement for drilling in Crete with ExxonMobil, Total and HELPE - IBNA

28-09-2018, 06:28

Nefeli Tzanetakou

Greek Minister of Environment and Energy, George Stathakis, the Chairman of the Hellenic Management Company of Hydrocarbons, Ioannis Basias and the representatives of Total, Isabelle Gastineau, ExxonMobil, Tom McMahon and Yiannis Grigoriou of the Hellenic Petroleum S.A (HELPE) proceeded to the initiation of the concession contracts for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in two marine "plots" south and southwest of Crete and one in Kyparissiakos Gulf.

Washington backs Cyprus's EEZ rights - KATHIMERINI

FRIDAY JULY 27, 2018, 21:55

US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon expressed Washington’s support Friday for Cyprus’s right to exploit the natural resources within its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Turkey has warned that it will not allow Cyprus to drill for and exploit gas reserves in its EEZ unless Turkish Cypriots in the island’s Turkish-occupied north are included in the project.

Fannon met in Athens with Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis and government officials and conveyed Washington’s plaudits for Greece’s efforts to become an energy transit hub with its participation in the South Stream and the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipelines.

Energy Ministry announces winning bid for hydrocarbon exploration off Crete - ANA-MPA

Tuesday 3 July 2018, 17:03:13

The ministerial decision announcing the winning bid of Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE), Total and Exxon Mobil consortium for hydrocarbon research off western and northwestern Crete was made on Tuesday.

The areas concerned cover 19,868 sq.km and 20,058 sq.km, respectively.

The call for tenders went out in December 2017 following the consortium’s expression of interest, and the consortium held negotiations with the Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management (HHRA) agency, which submitted its approval to Environment and Energy Minister George Stathakis last week.

Prior to the agreement's tabling in Parliament, it must go through reviews by the Court of Auditors, the signature of the leasing agreements with HHRA, and the approval of the minister. 

As HHRA head Yannis Bassias told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, the finalist for hydrocarbon exploration in the Ionian Sea (HELPE-Repsol) will be submitted to the minister next week.

ICGB to choose pipe supplier for Greece-Bulgaria gas link in June - SEE NEWS

Apr 19, 2018 13:11 CEST

Mario Tanev / Bulgaria's Ministry of Energy

SOFIA (Bulgaria), April 19 (SeeNews) - The supplier of pipes for the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB) project is expected to be selected in June, Bulgaria's energy ministry has said.

The shortlisted candidates will be announced by the end of April, the energy ministry said in a statement following a meeting of energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova with her Greek counterpart Giorgos Stathakis on Wednesday.

At least one DESFA sale offer believed to exceed €500m - ENERGY PRESS

16/04/2018

At least one of two second-round offers submitted last week by two consortiums participating in an international tender offering 66 percent of DESFA, the natural gas grid operator, exceeds 500 million euros, according to energypress sources.

Such a level, if confirmed, would be well above the tender’s first-round offers and a winning 400 million-euro bid that had been submitted by Azerbaijan’s Socar to a previous tender, also offering 66 percent of DESFA, which was not finalized.

In another bonus, the government appears to have secured Greek State rights for natural gas projects and infrastructure of strategic interest in a shareholders’ agreement to accompany the transfer of DESFA’s 66 percent to a new strategic investor.

Is the TAP, a project of national and geopolitical importance, at stake? - IBNA

30-03-2018, 21:13
Nefeli Tzanetakou

Construction of the Greek section of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline natural gas pipeline is proceeding rapidly, with the aim of completing the project within the foreseen timetable, that is within 2018.

According to Katerina Papalexandri, the project manager for Greece, the construction from Evros Gardens to the Greek-Albanian borders in Kristalopigi, Kastoria, will have been completed by November 2018.

After that, the testing period is expected sometime by mid-2019, a moment when hydrocarbons will become part of the project, and in 2020 the TAP pipeline will be ready for commercial operation.

The pipeline will initially transfer 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year, from the Shah Deniz deposit in Azerbaijan to Europe, with a potential for doubling the capacity to 20 billion cubic meters, while it will be connected with the Greek gas system at three spots (in Pella, Kastoria and Kozani).

Exxon, Total, Repsol among bidders for oil exploration off Greece - REUTERS

MARCH 5, 2018 / 7:20 PM

Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Susan Fenton

ATHENS (Reuters) - Oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Total (TOTF.PA) and Repsol (REP.MC) are among members of two consortia that have submitted bids to explore for oil and gas off Greece.

Greece’s oil and gas resources management company (HHRM) said on Monday that Exxon and Total, each with 40 percent stakes, and Hellenic Petroleum had jointly bid to explore off Crete, while Spain’s Repsol and Hellenic Petroleum had submitted a joint bid for a block in the Ionian Sea.

Greece launched the tenders last year after expressions of interest by the Exxon-led consortium for the two sites off Crete and by Greece’s Energean for the Ionian block, although Energean has since withdrawn.

HHRM said it would quickly evaluate the offers, while the final approval lies with the Energy Ministry.

Encouraged by large gas finds in the eastern Mediterranean, Greece is eager to attract investment in its energy sector as it tries to emerge from years of economic crisis.

Total, Edison get Greek go-ahead for oil and gas exploration - REUTERS

FEBRUARY 28, 2018 / 5:34 PMReporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Karolina Tagaris, editing by David Evans

• Majority of lawmakers approve lease agreements for exploration
• Licences for four blocks were pending parliament approval
• Energy minister says Greece turning new page in hydrocarbons

ATHENS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Greece’s parliament gave the go-ahead on Wednesday for companies including France’s Total and Italy’s Edison to explore for oil and gas in the west of the country.

Licences for four blocks - one offshore and three on land - were awarded in 2016 but had to be ratified by parliament for exploration work to begin.

East Med Pipeline To Boost Europe's Energy Security - PIPELINE TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL

Thu, 2017-DEC-14 12:49
Admir Celovic - Mark Iden

In yet another effort to enhance European energy security by diversifying sources away from Russia, a consortium of countries including Cyprus, Italy, Greece and Israel will build an 1900 km gas pipeline from the Levantine Basin in the eastern Mediterranean to Greece and Italy in 2025.

The East Med Pipeline, as it is being called, would ship up to 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year, roughly 5 percent of the EU annual consumption.

IGI Poseidon, a joint venture by Italian firm Edison and Greek company Depa, will build the pipeline - the longest underwater one in the world - at a cost of over €4 billion.

The EU has indicated that it will defray $2 billion, of half the cost, of the construction.

Cyprus, Israel, Italy and Greece intend to sign a binding intergovernmental agreement in 2018.

Israel expects gas to flow from east Mediterranean to Europe - THE WASHINGTON POST

From left, Cyprus’ energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, Greece’s Energy minister Giorgos Stathakis, Israel’s Energy minister Yuval Steinitz and Italian ambassador in Cyprus Andrea Cvallari  after the East Med Pipeline agreement signing at “Filoxenia” conference center in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. 

By Menelaos Hadjicostis | AP December 5 at 9:24 AM

NICOSIA, Cyprus — A potential undersea pipeline carrying natural gas from deposits in the eastern Mediterranean to Europe is “very realistic” and could help secure the continent’s energy future, Israel’s energy minister said Tuesday.

Yuval Steinitz said that a study on the “strategic” EastMed Pipeline Project shows that the pipeline is feasible, even though it presents technical challenges due to the depths involved.

Total, Edison sign lease for oil and gas exploration off Greece - REUTERS

OCTOBER 31, 2017 / 5:46 PM 

Karolina Tagaris, Editing by Susan Fenton

ATHENS (Reuters) - A consortium led by France’s Total moved a step closer to exploring for oil and gas off Greece after signing a lease on Tuesday with the government for a block in the Ionian Sea.

Hydrocarbon licensing changes avoided ahead of Crete tender - ENERGY PRESS

04/08/2017

The government has softened its stance on an intention to implement hydrocarbon sector revisions that could offer investors production sharing agreements rather than leasing agreements for new tenders.

Governmemt officials fear that such changes to the licensing system would undermine the prospects of future tenders, including an imminent effort aiming to offer investors blocks off Crete. This upcoing effort has drawn the attention of international oil industry giants such as ExxonMobil and Total.

KYSOIP, the Government Council for Economic Policy, which yesterday endorsed a hydrocarbon sector modernization plan forwarded by energy minister Giorgos Stathakis, decided to keep the current licensing model unchanged – at least for the time being.

DESFA bids of 400 mln or over, minister says - KATHIMERINI

02.08.2017 : 22:42
CHRYSSA LIAGGOU

Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis has given candidate buyers of gas grid operator DESFA a 400-million-euro bar to clear ahead of next Monday’s submission of non-binding bids.

The minister on Wednesday visited DESFA’s headquarters to learn about the company’s financial state and told employees there were three conditions that would secure the smooth development of the current process for the concession of a 66 percent stake to a strategic investor.

Greece expects minimum $456 mln offers in gas grid sale - newspaper - REUTERS

Mon Jul 10, 2017 | 7:28am EDT

Greece expects potential investors will offer at least 400 million euros ($456 million) for a majority stake in its gas grid operator DESFA, Energy Minister George Stathakis said in an interview with Naftemporiki newspaper.

Greece, under pressure by EU lenders to conclude the sale as it has earmarked about 180 million euros of the proceeds in this year's budget, relaunched the tender in June after a 400 million euro deal with Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR fell through over gas tariffs among other issues.