A new tender process, expected to take place by the end of February, is planned for the concession of the Southern Peloponnese land in which Chevron, the world’s second largest hydrocarbon company, has expressed interest.

A total of 11,500 square kilometers will be allocated by the EDEYEP in the first phase, of which 826 square kilometers are for plot A2, for which Helleniq Energy has expressed interest, and the remaining 10,606 square kilometers for the plot southwest of the Peloponnese and as far west as Crete, which borders the concessions of ExxonMobil and Helleniq Energy granted about ten years ago.

Three ministerial decisions will be signed as part of this preparation. The first will accept Chevron’s interest in the Greek block being granted for the first time, the second will delineate the concession and the third will provide the roadmap for the tender process and determine the type of contract.

The US giant’s interest in exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons is formalized about two years after the first contacts between Greek officials and senior executives of the company and at an international juncture that makes mining more relevant than ever. Typical during yesterday’s inauguration was the statement by the new US President Donald Trump during which he confirmed his plan to increase oil and gas drilling on US soil. “The US will become a rich country again because of the liquid gold under our feet,” the new US President said meaningfully.

At the same time, hydrocarbon exploration and extraction are also coming to the forefront of government policy, which is preparing to open up the fossil fuel game as a strategy to redefine the role of gas in the EU and put it out to tender and new concessions within 2025.

Extension of concessions

After all, in yesterday’s announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which solemnized the entry of the new international suitor into Greece, the spatial extension of the investigations is clearly mentioned, which, as stated, will be evaluated by the ministry in the immediate future. Reports indicate that the expansion concerns Chevron, which will not be limited to the Southern Peloponnese region announced yesterday, expanding its menu of interest. Without also excluding the appearance of new players, which existed even before the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, still exists today as the information says and remains to be proven by the developments and the upcoming competitions.

Global conditions in the upstream sector have improved a lot at a time when the increased cost of the energy transition puts many asterisks in Europe as well.

Greece, as an extension of the Eastern Mediterranean, benefits from this parameter as long as it proves that it is doing research. Competent sources state that until today there were no shipping companies in the country. Now Greece, with the entry of ExxonMobil five years ago and now of Chevron, is moving to another level at a time when ExxonMobil is expanding its discoveries in Egypt, preparing to start exploratory drilling on block 5 in Cyprus and having to decide about the fate of the concessions in Crete.

Chevron, for its part, which operates in over 25 countries, has expanded into the SE Mediterranean region by acquiring Noble Energy, which has to its credit discoveries of fields in Israel and Egypt. The company has acquired all the seismic data of the Norwegian PGS for the Ionian and Crete region, which shows the flirtation with Greece for a long time.

Reshuffle in plots

Its entry into our country coincides with significant reshuffles on the front of Greek operators as well. For example, Helleniq Energy is located with the A2 block close to the block of interest to Chevron and this could mean synergies and possible transactions in the future with such a powerful “neighbour”. The latter has cooperated very well with the ministry and EDEYEP (Hellenic Management Company of Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources) and has accepted to return part of plots 10 and 2 in the Ionian for the needs of the marine park planned by the Ministry. In return he has the opportunity to claim the new A2.

Also, Energean, which had the plot in Katakolo according to the ministry’s announcement yesterday, has agreed to return it to the public. The disputed area, which is a small plot of land with proven oil reserves of 14 million barrels, has long been dormant as the government has shifted its focus to natural gas. With the new design, this specific concession will fall into the new Ionian National Marine Park which, as announced by the Ministry of Environment and Energy, will start from Aktikythera, will cover a continuous zone along the southern and western coasts of the Peloponnese to Zakynthos, Kefalonia , Ithaca, Lefkada and the Strophadon Islands. Accordingly, the process has also been initiated for the return to the public of the other Energean plot in Ioannina after the company’s decision not to request another extension.