Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reported that the U.S. company Exxon Mobil is to begin seismic surveys in the southwest of the Peloponnese peninsula and the island of Crete in the coming days.
Considering its advantageous location and developing infrastructure, Greece plans to deploy gas production and, consequently, to take a leading place later in the storage and transportation of blue fuel across Europe.
According to Mitsotakis, regardless of the focus on a rapid environmental transition, Greece must determine whether it has sufficient potential for natural gas production and what factors will contribute to energy security for all of Europe.
During an interview with Greek television station Ant1, the prime minister said the ExxonMobil study is due to begin this week.
In July ExxonMobil and Greece's largest oil refinery HelleniQ Energy agreed to buy TotalEnergies' stake in two gas and oil exploration contracts off Crete.
ExxonMobil is the operator owning 70% of the hydrocarbon prospecting rights off the Crete coast. HelleniQ Energy owns the rest.