Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. On the sidelines of the sixth Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation (P-TEC) held in Athens, Greece and the United States signed a series of agreements deepening energy cooperation between the two countries.
On the first day of the summit, ExxonMobil, Energean and Helleniq Energy signed a deal to commence drilling in Block 2 of the Ionian Sea, northwest of mainland Greece, considered one of Greece’s most mature offshore concessions. Drilling is expected to commence by 2027, with gas production expected by the early 2030s.
This will be Greece’s first offshore exploration well in forty years, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noting that “today we are writing a new chapter in Greece’s energy history” and stating that the move reflected Greece’s determination to tap its own resources. Exxon will have a 60% stake in the project, with Energean and HelleniQ Energy having 30% and 10% respectively.
At the same time, Greece also signed a long-term deal to import US liquefied natural gas (LNG). The 20-year deal will see Greece importing 0.7 billion cubic metres of LNG starting in 2030. “Most of the gas that now comes into Greece does not stay in Greece – it is sent to third countries,” said Mitsotakis, reiterating the country’s commitment to the ‘Vertical Gas Corridor’ that would transport LNG entering Greece to Ukraine, Moldova, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.
“The United States is 100 percent an ally in breaking free from dependence on Russia”, said US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, hailing Greece as the entry point for American LNG in Europe and noting that “Greece had been at the end of a pipeline of a Russia-dominated energy supply system. Today, Greece becomes a launch point, the entry into Europe for American energy trade”.
At the same time, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is set to expand its footprint in Greece and invest in the country. It has already invested 125 million dollars in the Elefsina shipyards, is set to fund the Thriasio Freight Center project developed by Goldair and has shown official interest in the Greece-Cyprus-Israel power interconnection.
Finally, on Friday, the United States and Greece signed a joint Economic Security Declaration in Athens. According to the US Embassy in Greece, the agreement pledges to deepen cooperation in “multi-level partnerships that strengthen supply chain security, reduce coercive dependencies and promote the development of reliable technological ecosystems”.
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