LNG

The Greek Government agency, Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA), said seismic surveys had been successfully completed in the offshore areas to the West and Southwest of the Mediterranean island of Crete in the prolific East Med Basin where pipeline gas and LNG feed-gas projects are being developed.

HEREMA said the surveys were carried out by the leading global seismic acquisition and processing company, Petroleum Geo-Services PGS, headquartered in Norway.

Analysts said that this was the most intensive search launched by the Greeks in their Exclusive Economic Zone for natural gas discoveries such as those made by other nations in the region like Egypt and Israel. Lebanon has also launched an exploration campaign and Cyprus already has the Aphrodite gas field in its waters.

The Greek surveys were carried out on behalf of the exploration and production licence holders for the area West and South of Crete, US major ExxonMobil Corp. and Helleniq Energy, a leading refining, supply and trading company in Southeast Europe.

“From their initiation on November 10th 2022, up until their completion, subsurface imaging geophysical surveys for the exploration of potential natural gas deposits were conducted at an intensive pace, far exceeding the minimum contractual obligations,” said HEREMA.

Huge area covered

“A total of 12,278 kilometres of seismic data were collected against the minimum contractual obligation of 6,500km for the two blocks combined,” the state agency added.

“The surveys increased the density of the seismic coverage in the areas within the West and Southwest of Crete concessions, offering for the first time seismic imaging and information over unexplored areas within the Greek EEZ,” declared HEREMA.

Participants emphasized that the surveys lasted a little over three months and adhered to the strictest standards and safety measures for the protection of the environment and marine life.

“As the competent authority that manages the concession rights on behalf of the Greek State, we are deeply satisfied with our excellent cooperation with our investors, who increased their investments and completed the exploration program at a rapid pace,” said HEREMA’s Chief Executive Aristofanis Stefatos.

“This will be followed by data processing, interpretation, and evaluation in order to make decisions about entering the next exploration phase,” added Stefatos.

HEREMA’s Chairman Rikard Scoufias welcomed the completion of the surveys that covered large areas of East Med waters in the Greek economic zone for the first time.

“This is a Greek achievement of global magnitude and comes at a very important moment for Europe,” said Scoufias.

Hopeful

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to monetize Greece’s natural gas resources in a way that can not only bring economic and strategic benefits but also support the bigger objective to accelerate the transition,” added Scoufias.

“Our focus will now be on further building the resources and collaborations, at all levels, to ensure we maintain this historic momentum,” stated the HEREMA Chairman.

In less than two years Greece has now conducted seismic surveys in five areas as opposed to just two areas from 2011 to 2020.

“We need to discover if a new potential source of wealth exists in the subsurface of our country that can be monetized for the benefit of Greek society,” commented Greece’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Kostas Skrekas on the HEREMA-led survey campaign.

QatarEnergy, the world’s No. 2 LNG producer after Australia, is continuing to focus on exploration and production with partner ExxonMobil and both have signed a production sharing contract for one of the few expanding Basins in the West, the East Mediterranean.

Greece’s Copelouzos Group has signed contracts for the implementation of a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant planned for the eastern Greek port of Alexandroupolis where an offshore LNG import terminal is planned.

Copelouzos said the contracts were for the supply and the long-term maintenance of the main equipment for the 840-megawatts facility being developed along with Greece’s Damco Energy SA and General Electric of the US.

The floating LNG terminal is a separate project from the onshore power plant and is being developed by Greek company Gastrade.

The Alexandroupolis LNG floating storage and regasification unit will have storage capacity of 170,000 cubic metres and regasification capacity of at least 5.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum.

The FSRU will be moored in an offshore area about 17.6 kilometres southwest of the port of Alexandroupolis.

The floating unit will be connected to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission grid through a pipeline system of a total length of 28km.

Copelouzos said that for its power plant project the company subsidiary Ilektroparagogi Alexandroupolis SA will be responsible for the implementation of the investment and construction will start before the end of 2021 and be completed by the spring of 2024.

Copelouzos added that the building of the gas-fired plant would strengthen the local economy as well as when operation start.

“During the construction 600 people are going to be employed, while it is estimated that 90 permanent job positions will be created during the whole lifetime of the project,” explained Copelouzos.

“In addition, and in conjunction the other projects of the Copelouzos Group, the unit will make the area of Alexandroupolis an energy hub, a fact that will attract further investments and result in economic growth and prosperity of the greater area,” it stated.

Oct 1 (LNGJ) - Russian pipeline natural gas supplier to Western Europe, Gazprom, has celebrated the 25th anniversary of its supply contract with European Union nation Greece, which is currently planning a floating LNG import project offshore the port of Alexandroupolis and has imported cargoes since 2000 to the existing onshore terminal at Revithoussa, west of Athens.

   “Over the past quarter of a century, Gazprom has exported upwards of 54 billion cubic metres of gas to this country and the annual amount of supplies has grown by more than 15 times,” said Gazprom. “All these years, the cooperation has relied on a long-term contract with the Greek operator DEPA. The contract, which was signed in 1988, is still in effect,” it added. “Gas from Russia is delivered via the TurkStream gas pipeline and the national gas transmission system of Bulgaria,” the Russians noted.

Greece, Cyprus and Israel have signed an agreement to build a 1,900-kilometre subsea pipeline to transport natural gas from the East Mediterranean to West European markets in competition to LNG.