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Greece to open its coast for oil and gas exploration by end-2014

Greece will start licensing for natural gas and oil exploration in areas along its coast at the end of September 2014 in an effort to gain in energy independence as the country significantly depends on oil and gas imports from Russia. Greece will open up to 20 offshore and 3 onshore blocks ranging from 1,800 to 9,500 km² in western Greece and the south of Crete for a total of about 100,000 km². A call for tenders will be published at the end of September 2014. Companies will have six months to submit their offers after the call for tenders is published, with exploration activities expected to start in September 2015. The Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change expects €150bn of investment from the private sector over the next 30 years.

Simultaneously, Energean Oil & Gas announces that the Greek Parliament ratified its Licence Agreements for hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation at the Ioannina (Energean 80%, Petra Petroleum 20%) and Katakolon (Energean 60%, Trajan Oil & Gas 40%) blocks, Western Greece. Energean will act as operator for both blocks.

Greece produced 0.52 mbl of crude oil in 2013, i.e. about 0.25% of its national consumption, and 5 mcm of natural gas, i.e. about 0.1% of its national consumption (source: Enerdata, Global Energy Data).

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