Greek Parliament tabled contracts for hydrocarbon exploration in four areas off Crete and the Ionian islands on Wednesday.

The ratification of the contracts is expected to strengthen the sector’s contribution to the Greek economy, according to the introductory report. These contracts include the sea area designated ‘Ionio’ (Spain-based consortium Repsol Exploracion/Hellenic Petroleum or HELPE); ‘Block 10 Ionian Sea’ in the Gulf of Kyparissia, SW Peloponnese (HELPE); and the maritime areas west and southwest of Crete (consortium of Total, ExxonMobil and HELPE).

Apart from providing valuable offsets to the local communities and revenues to the state budget, it is hoped that Greece’s role as an energy hub would further be established.

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The drilling “essentially concerns the exercise of national sovereignty and national sovereign rights by the Greek state on hydrocarbon resources,” the report said. Provisions of the contracts for the Cretan and Ionian beds include an 8-year limit on exploration, and a 25-year limit on exploitation. If hydrocarbons are found, the state stands to gain 40 pct of the total investment revenues, broken down as follows: 20 pct as income tax plus 5 pct as regional tax, with the rest being income on royalties based on a rising scale linked to hydrocarbon volume.
In addition, the contracts include strict regulations on environmental protection and reduction of environmental threats at both exploration and exploitation stages.