Page 12 - EurOil Week 45 2022

EurOil GREECE EurOil

Greece hopes to find enough hydrocarbons

to cover demand for 10 years

GREECE GREECE is hopeful it has enough hydrocarbon consumption of Greece, if confirmed by real
reserves in the west of the country to cover its data, for 10 years,” the minister told Skai TV.
Greece is counting on demand for a decade, Energy Minister Kostas Even as it accelerates the development
a drilling campaign Skrekas said on November 11, as the country of renewables, Greece views natural gas as
offshore next year. pushes to develop more of its oil and gas to bol- a transition fuel that can help it phase out its
ster its energy security. remaining coal-fired power generation and
Greece is among several European countries says developing gas will not undermine its
to announce plans to increase domestic oil and commitment to the EU goal of cutting emis-
gas development, as a means of countering high sions by 55% by 2030.
prices and offset cuts in Russian supply. The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
government argues that Greece’s location and last week announced that seismic surveys would
existing investment in infrastructure puts it in be launched to find potential gas resources at two
a perfect position to provide energy supply for blocks southeast of the coast of Greece’s Pelopon-
the rest of Europe as well. Greece has emerged nese peninsula and the island of Crete. If the seis-
as a gas hub in Southeast Europe, hosting part of mic data warrants it, test drilling could start in
the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) that runs from 2025, he said.
Azerbaijan, an operational LNG terminal and a In a similar vein, the new government of Italy
second under development, and a newly-com- has announced plans to double national gas pro-
pleted pipeline to Bulgaria. duction to 6bn cubic metres per year in an effort
Mediterranean-focused Energean is so far to further cut the use of Russian gas.
Greece’s only oil producer. It announced it would “One of our goals is to develop a plan that will
carry out test drilling in 2023 at an onshore block make us as quickly as possible less dependent
in the north-western area of Ioannina. This and will then turn us into the energy hub of the
marks the first drilling to take place in the coun- Mediterranean,” Italian Industry Minister Ado-
try in 2022 years. A 2D seismic survey was shot lfo Urso said in an interview in late October.
at the site in 2019. The plan will involve authorising new off-
Surveys show a 15% probability in drill- shore drilling in the Adriatic Sea.
ing terms of a significant deposit being made, Italy had imposed a moratorium on offshore
Skrekas said. drilling only three years ago, and extended the
“The Ioannina deposit could cover the ban in autumn 2021. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 45 14•November•2022