Ukraine war reopens the hydrocarbon file in Greece

The dossier of the investigation for the identification of possible natural gas deposits in Greece is being taken out of the drawer again by the government after the upheavals caused by the war in Ukraine in energy efficiency.

According to information available to OT, a meeting was held at Maximos Mansion at noon on Saturday under the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and with the participation of the Minister of Environment and Energy Costas Skrekas, the Secretary General of Energy Alexandra Sdoukou, the Chief Executive Officer and CEO of Hellenic Petroleum Andreas Shiamishis.

The participants in the meeting provided an overview of the progress of exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, in the intended EU effort so that Greece can become independent of Russian gas. The search for new energy sources is high on the government’s agenda and therefore, according to sources, the meeting at the Maximos Mansion marks a reflection of the government’s attitude towards hydrocarbon exploration. Something that OT had revealed in a post on February 17. The government had begun to catch the thread… of the gas exploration project πριν before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the latest dramatic events are accelerating developments.

The latest move to show a change in the government’s stance until now due to the emphasis on “green” energy, was the seismic surveys carried out by Hellenic Petroleum for two weeks last month on their two concessions “Ionion” and “block 10”. The two sea plots are located on the side of the Ionian Sea and the Hellenic Petroleum leased the special seismographic vessel “SW COOK” for geophysical surveys.

The deposits of Crete

According to the same information, the two very promising sea blocks “West of Crete” and “Southwest of Crete” were put on the table. These concessions, like those of the Ionian Sea, are said to have targets with possible natural gas deposits. Recently, EDEY has made it known that in our country there are possible targets that hide natural gas deposits worth 250 billion euros.

As for the two sea plots of Crete, they have been granted to the consortium of companies TotalEnergies – ExxonMobil – HEL.PE. However, the seismic surveys that the oil companies were going to do this winter have been blocked in the CoE due to appeals made by ecological organizations against the Strategic Environmental Impact Study. The investigations are in the air, as the trial of the case has been postponed for four times in a period of three years. So for their start but mainly for the stay of the two major multinationals in Greece requires a strong government signal that shows that there is the political will for gas exploration in our country.

Energy mix

However, apart from the aforementioned extended meeting on hydrocarbons, there was also a private discussion between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Costas Skrekas.

According to information, the minister informed the prime minister about the situation regarding the energy adequacy of the market but the issue of the spike in oil and gas prices. As it is known, the government has prepared Plan B in case of violent interruption of the supply of Russian gas to our country. The alternative sources are the LNG stored at the DESFA terminal in Revythousa, the increase of the quantities of natural gas from Azerbaijan through the TAP pipeline and the further utilization of the lignite power plants of PPC. Also gas units with an output of 1 GW will turn on their turbines to consume oil if needed.

Next week, Brussels is expected to announce a plan for gas dependence moves, without deviating from the Green Deal goals and faster penetration of RES.

Prices

The Energy Minister also informed the Prime Minister about the course of gas prices, which last week broke a season record after being launched at the level of 200 euros / MWh. As much as the Russian official Medvedev had warned about two weeks ago.

The Greek Government will continue to promote in Brussels its proposal for the creation of a European Solidarity Mechanism, which will raise funds from the EIB and finance Member States with low-interest loans for policies: Either subsidizing electricity and gas bills or to impose a ceiling on wholesale electricity prices while subsidizing electricity costs.

In the government, the headache from the issue of energy costs is strong, say the information of OT. If the prices of TTF natural gas continue their frenetic course then the 2.5 billion euros to subsidize (with resources from pollution rights) will not be enough to limit a significant part of price increases. One will also need to mobilize resources from the state budget. And that is when the budgetary implications will be more than visible, and they will arrive much sooner than expected.