Exxon Mobil will start conducting seismic surveys off southwestern Greece and the island of Crete in the coming days, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday.
This announcement comes amid tensions between Greece and Turkey over offshore rights in the eastern Mediterranean and as Europe seeks alternative energy sources due to the war in Ukraine.
The project has been heavily criticised over the potential risk of spills and critics said the project, if successful, would increase Greece’s use of fossil fuels amid the planet’s climate change crisis.
During an interview with Antenna TV on Monday, Mitsotakis insisted that Greece remains dedicated to a “fast green transition,” but it is “obliged to explore if it has the potential to mine natural gas, which will contribute to our country’s energy security and Europe’s.”
In July, ExxonMobil and Greece’s biggest oil refiner HelleniQ Energy agreed to take over TotalEnergies’ share in two contracts for gas and oil exploration off Crete, after the latter pulled out.
ExxonMobil is the operator, owning 70 percent of the rights for looking for hydrocarbons off Crete. HelleniQ Energy holds the rest.
Mitsotakis said in April the country plans to speed up exploration for gas reserves to replace Russian gas with indigenous resources. The country aims to have a clear idea by 2023 on whether it has gas reserves it could tap.
Source: AP News.
