“Following the drilling for hydrocarbons, Greece will gain 1/3, around 35%, which is not bad, it is fine,” Filippos Filippakopoulos, the former CEO of a Greek hydrocarbon management company, Yannis Basias, said in an interview with Naftemporiki TV.
Regarding the announcement of the international tender for exploration and exploitation in the Ionian Sea, he stated that “the issue had been in the works for many years, that is, Chevron had been interested at about the same time as Exxon and Total.”
“Moreover, Chevron has more national characteristics, it has more sensitivity to what concerns the interests of the US. Exxon is very international and that is why it is the largest,” Basias pointed out.
Asked what kind of deposits there are, he replied that “the depths are very great from a geological point of view, there is natural gas, there must be oil too,” while he estimated that regarding extractions, “we are talking about a period of 5-6 years, to 2032.”
Turkish-Libyan memorandum
Regarding the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, Basias said that “as far as the Turkish-Libyan memorandum is concerned, between us, it is an illegal thing which is more of a commercial agreement than something that can stand on its own two feet, so I would say not to take it so seriously now that things are changing in America and there will be a different perspective.”
Greece’s benefits
Asked about Greece’s benefits from the extraction, Basias commented: “The benefit will be 1/3, around 35%, which is not bad, it is fine” and explained that “it is important: 1) because Greece does not have the experience, 2) it does not have a national company. Now we are entering this process very late because there was no interest in having our own hydrocarbons.”
