Greece Approves Enel's Gas & Oil Drilling

Now, additional oil corporations will have the chance to present competitive offers for the same areas, under the state's "open-door" hydrocarbons licensing mandates, as reported by Kathimerini.

The Greek Energy Ministry stated that the 90-day time period is scheduled to start this July. In April, Enel requested authorization to administer test drillings in the northwestern Peloponnese, Arta and Aetoloacarnania. Back in 2001, two of these domains were explored by Greece's Hellenic Petroleum and Hungary's MOL, without producing results.

Renewed interest occurred during Greece's financial crisis, when the Hellenic state appealed to oil companies to explore its undiscovered hydrocarbon capacities. Greece imports the majority of its natural gas and oil. In 2013, the Hellenic state spent 15.6 billion euros on fuel imports, which made up 8.6% of its GDP.

This month, Athens authorized the exploration of hydrocarbon sources in three different western sectors to Hellenic Petroleum, Energean Oil & Gas, Ireland's Petroceltic and Italy's Edison. The nation's capital has arranged to invite global investors to administer offshore drillings in the southern and western Greek seas, after seismic test are finalized later in the year.