Three hydrocarbon bids for western Greece and south of Crete
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The Energy Ministry had received three bids for the concession of licenses for surveying and extracting hydrocarbons in 20 areas in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete before the deadline set for Tuesday, although the capital controls imposed do not allow for the publication of interested parties.
The bids must remain sealed because bidders were unable to submit 100,000 euro letters of guarantee per bid, since the tender dictatesthat those letters should be issued by Greek banks or foreign banks with a branch in Athens.
To overcome this legal issue, the ministry has decided to open those offers 10 working days after the banks open, so the only news coming from the ministry concerns the submission of just three bids. “This number can be considered as a positive step in the country’s effort to utilize its undersea wealth,” read a statement.
Sources reported a bid from Hellenic Petroleum in cooperation with a major multinational, possibly France’s Total and/or Italy’s Edison. It is quite possible the same consortium submitted all three bids.
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