The head of the Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management (HHRM) on Wednesday referred to “nonsense” on the part of energy sector analysts regarding the possible existence of a “mammoth” natural gas south of Crete.
HHRM CEO Ioannis Basias was referring to press reports this past week of the possibility of a deposit corresponding to the Zor deposit in Egyptian territorial waters.
“We have not yet reached the day of reckoning. Only then, when we have real results, will we be able to form a true picture,” Basias said, speaking at an Economist conference in Nicosia, Cyprus.
At the same time, in broader terms, he recognized a dynamic in terms of hydrocarbon research and exploitation in the wider eastern Mediterranean region.
“The question is how to increase supply from the east to the west, so that we can limit the south’s reliance on the north,” he added.
HHRM is the Greek state’s authority for offshore safety in gas and oil operations in the country, formed as per a condition in the third memorandum in July 2016, and in compliance with a 2013 EU Directive.
