New hydrocarbon licenses offering bigger blocks now in the making

EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, is pushing for swifter finalization of pending exploration and exploitation agreements and also preparing to stage new tenders offering bigger blocks over the next year.

As was recently reported by energypress, EDEY has decided to reprocess data collected from seismic surveys conducted in 2012 in the Ionian Sea and areas south and east of Crete.

EDEY intends to stage tenders offering prospective investors bigger and more enticing offshore blocks than those offered in a previous round held back in 2014. The latest overall drive highlights EDEY’s renewed interest in exploring and utilizing Greece’s hydrocarbon potential.

The hydrocarbon company is currently seeking to appoint a consultant as an associate for guidance in negotiations and the establishment of new hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation licenses.

In another indicator of the heightened interest shown lately by Greek authorities in the hydrocarbon sector, just days ago, the energy ministry finalized a license agreement offering Block 2, off the Ionian island Corfu, to a consortium comprised of ELPE, Total and Edison.

The energy ministry plans to restage tenders for 17 blocks in the region that had failed to draw investor bids during the previous round of 2014. Some of these blocks may be joined to increase their size and increase the attraction for prospective investors.

Besides Block 2, investors submitted bids for just two other offshore licenses – Block 1, close to the Greek-Albanian border, and Block 10, in Kyparissia, western Peloponnese – during the previous round.