The bid submission from Chevron and Helleniq Energy at the International Competition for Maritime Plots south of Crete is simply the first step in a “marathon”, which will decide whether this area has commercially utilized deposits in hydrocarbons.
Chevron’s request at this stage is not binding, but it expresses in practice that the company sees something promising in the area, so that it can discover, produce and transport hydrocarbons, such as gas. Three stages that contain their own challenges and difficulties.
In addition to the geopolitical response, which is extremely important, the first entry of Chevron guarantees a high know -how in this difficult industry. It is, after all, the second largest US oil, which has a rich experience in exploring various depths, difficult seabed and remote geographical zones.
So, for this year and early 2026, the next step is to sign contracts with Chevron and Helleniq and be validated by the House.
Then, the oils will conduct seismic research to “comb” the subsoil to identify the most promising drilling targets. The estimate is that this stage will take about two years.
Once seismic surveys show good results, then companies can make the decision on research drilling that will actually prove the endless quantities.
A research drilling costs expensive, up to $ 1 million a day and 100 million in total. By extension, one realizes that it will not be decided without too much solid data to support it.
In such a case, an environmental impact study will be needed and the state will have to move quickly with the issuance of the relevant license. Thus, we get close to 2030 in a realistic optimistic scenario to find out if there are really commercially utilized amounts of hydrocarbons.
An interesting question about the future is whether there is oil besides natural gas on plots south of Crete. Recall that Kyriakos Mitsotakis has ruled out oil production, but things have changed since then internationally (see Trump) and a cruise change cannot be ruled out.
Finally, if this new effort or exxonmobil counterpart is successful, then the road can also be paved to involve even more oil. Recall that this week, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, had a meeting in Milan with Conocophillips executives.