ExxonMobil asks for 2-year extension to drilling rights - KATHIMERINI

25.AUG.2022 • 22:43
Chryssa Liaggou

Energy multinational ExxonMobil has asked for a two-year extension to the lease of two fields west and southwest of Crete for oil and gas exploration.

The two fields had been leased to France’s Total for three years in October 2019, but it withdrew last April.

ExxonMobil and Greek refiner HELPE have stepped in.

Hydrocarbon exploration to start off Crete - KATHIMERINI

Sunday September 20, 2020, 22:33
Chryssa Liaggou

In the first couple of months of 2021, the consortium comprising Total, ExxonMobil and Hellenic Petroleum will begin offshore geophysical surveys for hydrocarbons in the blocks to the south and southwest of Crete, according to the formal update it submitted during a video conference with the Regional Authority of Crete last Wednesday.

The winter season is considered preferable for exploration as the reproduction of maritime mammals will be less affected then.

The two blocks, titled “West of Crete” and “Southwest of Crete,” were conceded to the consortium through an international tender announced in 2017 after the companies themselves expressed an interest. The concession contracts were ratified by Parliament last October.

The offshore areas to be surveyed cover a total of 40,000 square kilometers. According to the contracts, the surveying phase will last for eight years and be split into three stages, the last of which will include exploratory drilling.

Ministry OKs environmental study for blocks south of Crete - ENERGY PRESS

17 JULY 2020

Energy minister Costis Hatzidakis has approved a strategic environmental impact study concerning an offshore area south of Crete in preparation for tenders to offer exploration and production licenses for two blocks covering most of the island’s width.

Giannis Basias, the former head official at EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, went ahead with the strategic environmental impact study last August to clear the way for government authorities to stage tenders for licenses and also spare winning bidders of needing to wait for pending issues to be resolved before they can begin their exploration efforts.

In addition, it is believed EDEY took swift action for the environmental impact study covering the offshore area south of Crete in response to interest expressed by oil majors.

Energean gets Total’s stake in the Ionian - KATHIMERINI

27.02.2020 : 22:11
Chryssa Liaggou

Greek oil enterprise Energean has secured its entry into Block 2 of the Ionian Sea by buying out the stake of French company Total, which had been seeking to disengage from the region for months.

Total had a 50 percent stake in the consortium to survey Block 2, while Hellenic Petroleum and Edison each hold 25 percent. Sources say Total first offered its two partners the stake but that they were not interested. Energean agreed to buy it because it appreciates the synergies this particular block presents with the other areas it has undertaken in Greece (Ioannina), as well as similar ones in Montenegro and the concessions of Edison in Italy.

Greece launches privatisation of gas supplier DEPA Commercial - KATHIMERINI / REUTERS

24.JAN.2020 : 08:30

Greece launched on Thursday the sale of a majority stake in state-controlled gas utility DEPA’s wholesale and retail business, its privatisation agency said.

The Greek government is selling a 65 percent stake in DEPA Commercial as part of the terms of the country’s final EU/IMF bailout.

Hellenic Petroleum, Greece’s biggest oil refiner holds the remaining 35 percent stake in the gas utility.

According to the tender document published by the privatisation agency, the preferred investor will also have the option to acquire Hellenic’s stake in DEPA Commercial.

The agency set a March 6 deadline for the submission of non-binding bids.

Study points to significant gas field off Crete - KATHIMERINI

10 JAN 2020 : 12:50
CHRYSSA LIAGGOU

A large reserve of natural gas off the southern coast of the island of Crete bearing similar features to Egypt’s Zohr gas field and Israel’s Leviathan in the Eastern Mediterranean has been identified by Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management (EDEY) after an analysis of seismic data from a sea area that also included the Ionian Sea.

In a statement, EDEY said that the company’s specialized scientists in the fields of geophysics and geology worked in environments that share common features with other gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean, namely Zohr and Leviathan.

The area in question is adjacent to another area that has been conceded to the consortium of Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE), Total and ExxonMobil.

HELPE indicates possible existence of large gas field - KATHIMERINI

THURSDAY OCTOBER 31, 2019 12:48

Chryssa Liaggou

Seismic research conducted by Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE), the country’s biggest oil refiner, has indicated the possibility of the existence of a large reserve of natural gas in Greece, similar to Egypt’s gigantic Zohr gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In a presentation on Wednesday, Yiannis Grigoriou, HELPE’s general manager for exploration and production of hydrocarbons, said that seismic depictions of the Zohr field bear similarities to an area that HELPE is exploring.

He did not reveal which region of the ones HELPE is exploring he was referring to [TEKMOR Note: SW Crete / local sources].

If these indications are confirmed by drilling activities, then the potential quantities may be 280 billion cubic meters, which would be able to cover Greece’s needs for 70 years.

Ratification of hydrocarbon licenses within August - ENERGY PRESS

27 AUG 2019

Four offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production licenses signed by three groups of investors for areas off Crete, in the Ionian Sea and west of the Peloponnese are expected to be ratified in Greek Parliament within the next few days, possibly before the end of August, energypress sources have informed.

These licenses are significant for the reputation of the recently elected conservative New Democracy party, keen to underline its willingness to cooperate in the energy sector and draw major investments to the country.

Oil majors are involved. France’s Total heads a consortium that includes US giant ExxonMobil and Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) for the two licenses off Crete, south and southwest of the island.

ELPE has joined forces with Spain’s Repsol for a license in the Ionian Sea, while ELPE is the sole participant in the offshore license west of the Peloponnese.

Greece licenses Exxon, Total to explore untapped waters off Crete - REUTERS

JUNE 27, 2019 / 2:44 PM

ATHENS, June 27 (Reuters) - Greece on Thursday awarded licences to ExxonMobil and Total to search for hydrocarbons off the island of Crete, marking the country’s first major foray into an oil and gas search in the region.

The companies, in consortium with Hellenic Petroleum , have an eight-year research and exploitation licence in two offshore blocks lying south and south-west of Crete.

“Within two to four years we anticipate we will have a clear view of what and what kind of reserves are there,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a speech at the licensing ceremony.

Greece has a number of smaller concessions mainly off its western coast, but the Crete concessions represent 40,000 square kilometres of territory virtually unexplored.

Greece Inks Undersea Gas Deals Despite Environmental Warning - U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT / ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 27, 2019, at 11:10 a.m.
NICHOLAS PAPHITIS, Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Financially-struggling Greece signed contracts on Thursday for offshore gas exploration in large tracts of the Mediterranean, despite warnings from environmental groups that the project threatens marine life habitats.

The deal will allow a consortium of energy companies Total and ExxonMobil with Greece's Hellenic Petroleum to explore two areas that are together about the size of Switzerland - 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq. miles) - south and southwest of the island of Crete.

It's the latest and by far biggest in a series of concessions for oil and gas exploration in the west of the country.

Fears of confrontation with neighboring Turkey over energy extraction rights have precluded similar deals in the Aegean Sea and east of Crete. Turkey currently has a drilling ship, escorted by warships, in waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights, and has threatened to make similar moves further west.

Hydrocarbon licenses on hold as a result of snap elections - ENERGY PRESS

28/MAY/2019

The country’s ambitious hydrocarbon exploration and production plan appears set to be impacted by further delays as a result of the government’s call for snap elections, now expected to take place on July 7.

License agreements signed recently for offshore blocks in the Ionian Sea and west of the Peloponnese, will, as a result, not be pushed through for ratification in parliament until after the elections.

An Ionian Sea license has been acquired by a consortium comprising Repsol and Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE), while ELPE has also taken on Block 10, further south, west of the Peloponnese.

Licenses offered for blocks west and southwest of Crete to a consortium made up of Total, ExxonMobil and ELPE are also set to face delays as a result of the country’s political developments. The triple-member team will need to hold on for several more months before it can begin work at these promising spots. The consortium’s licences, still in the hands of a supervisory committee, have also yet to be ratified in parliament. No action on these is expected prior to the early general elections.

Greece and Cyprus: Grand Challenges and Great Opportunities in East Mediterranean Gas - MODERN DIPLOMACY

May 1, 2019
Antonia Dimou

Greece is a country with many unexplored promising oil and gas fields.In fiscal terms, investments in hydrocarbon development and production throughout the country are highly competitive and attractive. From a hydrocarbon exploration perspective, offshore Crete in Southern Greece presents a frontier area that faces two major challenges namely a combination of very complex geological history and ultra-deep waters exceeding three thousand meters in most areas.

Following the “Call for Tenders for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons Offshore West Crete and Southwest Crete” in March 2018, the consortium of French Total, American ExxonMobil and Hellenic Petroleum (Helpe) was granted by Ministerial Decision in July 2018 rights of hydrocarbon exploration and production for two offshore blocks in West and Southwest Crete. The exploration stage is expected to last up to eight years, and in the event of a commercial discovery, the production lease agreement is set tobe valid for 25 years plus two five-year extensions. Currently, the concessions awarded to the consortium are expected to pass in the Greek Court of Audit. This will prompt a swift parliamentary ratification permitting the initiation of exploration activities.

Additionally, the Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management Authority intends to declare a new licensing tender for other offshore blocks in south Crete. To this end, the Authority published in February 2019 a tender for the Environmental Study that is prerequisite for companies to commence exploration once they are awarded certain concessions.

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.”

Greece's Hellenic Petroleum sell-off stalls as no bids made - REUTERS

APRIL 3, 2019 / 7:03 PM
Angeliki Koutantou

• Glencore/CIEP and Vitol/Sonatrach were shortlisted
• 50.1 pct stake in Hellenic worth about $1.5 bln
• Privatisation agency’s board to discuss next steps 

ATHENS, April 3 (Reuters) - No binding bids have been submitted for a majority stake in Greece’s biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum, dealing a blow to a key part of a planned sell-off of state assets mandated by international bailouts.

Switzerland-based commodities trader and miner Glencore had teamed up with CIEP Participations, and Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, with Algeria’s Sonatrach after they were shortlisted to bid for a 50.1 percent stake in Hellenic.

Greece’s privatisation agency said the lack of bids was “due to reasons related to the short-listed parties and recent developments in the international environment that affect the consortia.” It did not elaborate.

ELPE, seeing growth, to reopen northern pipeline late this year - ENERGY PRESS

02/APRIL/2019

An oil pipeline stretching 213 kilometers from an ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum) facility in Thessaloniki to its Okta company refinery and storage facility in the Republic of North Macedonia is expected to be reopened towards the end of this year, roughly six years after the Greek petroleum group shut it down.

The matter has been included on the agenda for a meeting in Skopje today between officials from both sides of the border, led by their respective heads of state, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his North Macedonian peer Zoran Zaev. The two leaders have agreed to sign a series of bilateral agreements and memorandums of cooperation.

Swift progress is being sought in efforts to finalize a customs agreement, align the oil pipeline plan with EU standards and facilitate its licensing.

ELPE intends to utilize the relaunched oil pipeline to transport fuel, especially diesel, in annual quantities of around one million metric tons, far greater than the total consumption in North Macedonia for exports to Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo, besides local sales.

Pyatt: Greece key to Europe’s energy diversification - KATHIMERINI

2 March 2019 : 15:51

“Greece has clearly emerged as a key European hub for energy diversification,” US Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on the sidelines of the Delphi Economic Forum on Saturday.

Pyatt said that the US will continue to work on all its energy partnerships in the country, including the LNG terminal on Revithoussa island, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) and ExxonMobil’s exploration with Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) off southern Crete. He also welcomed ExxonMobil’s discovery of what is seen as the biggest natural gas find off the coast of Cyprus.

Asked about the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue launched in Washington in December, Pyatt said it was “deepening and institutionalizing our alliance with Greece.” He said that the two sides have established working groups dealing with investments, homeland security and defense issues.

“All of this intends to keep the progress moving forward,” he said, adding he expects another round of meetings by the end of 2019.

The American ambassador was upbeat about the economic benefits of the name deal signed between Athens and Skopje, saying that the “Prespes agreement is going to unlock all of the opportunities for Greece to deepen trade, investment and economic relations with all of its northern neighbors.”

“We are really seeing Thessaloniki recapturing its role as the capital of the Balkans, Greek companies are already some of the largest investors in Skopje... and new projects are happening on energy, electricity,” Pyatt said.

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.

ExxonMobil VP 'very excited' about potential of drilling off Crete - KATHIMERINI

21.12.2018 : 15:18

US energy giant ExxonMobil is set to start looking for natural gas reserves off the coast of western Crete and is optimistic of “future discoveries,” the company's vice president of Exploration for Europe, Russia and the Caspian has said.

“Discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean like Zohr, Leviathan [an Israeli natural gas field] and Aphrodite, are certainly very encouraging for this region, and they certainly suggest to us that there is the potential for future discoveries to be made, and that’s why we’re here exploring,” Tristan Aspray said in an interview with the South EU Summit website on Thursday.

“With respect to Greece, ourselves and Hellenic Petroleum and Total have been awarded – subject to final government approval – two very large licenses offshore southwest and western Crete. We're very excited about the potential of this area. It's a huge area that's never seen a single exploration well and I think there's great potential there,” Aspray said.

The transfer of the 66% of DESFA’ shares to SENFLUGA Energy Infrastructure Holdings S.A. is completed - HRADF

Athens, 20/12/2018

PRESS RELEASE

The successful completion of another important milestone of the Hellenic Republic's program for the development of assets by HRADF marks the transfer of 66% stake (31% owned by HRADF and 35% owned by HELPE) to SENFLUGA Energy Infrastructure Holdings S.A. for a total amount of €535 million.

The business substance of DESFA’s new shareholder, comprising of the European energy companies Snam S.p.A., Enagás Internacional S.L.U. και Fluxys S.A., certifies the attractiveness of the Greek market, highlights the investment prospects of Greece and makes the country as a natural gas hub in Europe.

With respect to the above, the Executive Chairman of HRADF, Mr. Aris Xenofos, stated: “An extremely successful tender process, which attracted considerable investment interest, was completed today. The new era that starts for DESFA strengths also the role and the position of our country as an energy hub for the EU but and the wider geographical region. We have confidence in DESFA's new shareholders and the development plans they will deliver, transferring their international experience and know-how to the company. We are here support them as the case may be”.