Greece will conclude the evaluation of deep-sea oil and gas exploration bids in the coming weeks and will name the preferred bidders soon after, its energy minister said on Friday, as the country seeks to tap into its limited oil reserves.
Plunging crude oil prices have cut spending on oil projects around the world but cash-strapped Greece is pushing ahead with investment in the industry in a bid to reduce dependence on oil imports and boost public finances.
“We are evaluating three bids made by oil companies whose financial strength, experience and infrastructure ensure they are in a position to successfully perform gas and oil exploration and production,” Energy Minister Panos Skourletis said.
Skourletis said the evaluation of the business and technical offers was expected to be wrapped up “in the coming weeks.”
Officials have said that France’s Total (TOTF.PA) in a consortium with Greece’s biggest oil refiner, Hellenic Petroleum (HEPr.AT), and Italy’s Edison (EDNn.MI) have bid for one offshore gas drilling block in the west of Greece.
Hellenic Petroleum has also bid independently for two other blocks in the Ionian Sea.
Energean Oil & Gas, 45 percent owned by hedge fund Third Point (TPOG.L), is the sole oil producer in Greece. The company and Hellenic Petroleum jointly with Italy’s Edison (EDNn.MI) are exploring gas and oil in three onshore and offshore blocks in western Greece.
During a speech at the 45th Central-Eastern Europe & Caspian Scout Group meeting (CEEC scout group), held in Athens, Skourletis invited in Friday international oil companies to invest in the research and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Greece.
“To attract investments, the government has formed an attractive, modern, flexible, transparent legislative, administrational, economic and taxation investment framework which incorporates relevant EU directives and aims mainly at fully protecting the environment,” he said.
Ha also encouraged oil companies to invest in Greece and said they should not be scared off by low oil prices and technical difficulties created by its landscape.
The meeting was organized on the initiative and support of Greek refiner of Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) with more than 160 representatives of 80 international oil companies participating.
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