Environment Ministry Plans Hydrocarbon Bids

The bids will cover the region of southern Crete and the Ionian Sea in mid 2015. They will be analyzed after being submitted next March.

In June, Environment Minister Yiannis Maniatis stated to Bloomberg, "More than 10 international petroleum companies have expressed interest in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete, which is better than we expected...We now know for sure that there are hydrocarbons in Greece and that exploring for them makes economic sense", as reported by ekathimerini.

The Minister traveled to London last week and consulted with interested corporations. As administered by the hydrocarbon plan, gas and oil seekers will pay 25% tax, which is a current reduction of 40%, while 5% of taxes will be offered to the region's communities.