It is possible that the first exploratory drilling will begin in 2025, most likely in the area around Crete, which will give an initial indication of the potential hydrocarbon deposits, Deputy Environment and Energy Minister Alexandra Sdoukou said on Wednesday, addressing  theAthens Energy Summit. 

“We are at a critical point in time, we await the final investment decisions of the companies,” she said.
Sdoukou added that the interest shown by the U.S. companies Chevron and ExxonMobil for hydrocarbon exploration in Greece was of strategic importance. 

In relation to reports of a change in energy policy after Trump’s election, Sdoukou said that there is no difference in the attitude of the Greek government, which has always said that natural gas is needed as a bridge fuel to decarbonisation and as a cost containment factor for the energy transition.

 Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Country Representative Manager Greece, Ioannis Maris, said that from 2026 the pipeline’s transport capacity, which is currently 10 billion cubic metres per year, will increase by an additional 1.2 billion cubic metres. At the same time, a new market test is underway, repeated every two years, for possible further expansion. The pipeline transports natural gas from Azerbaijan through Turkiye and Greece to Europe and has been operating since 2020, covering 18% of Greek natural gas imports, while from 2022 it has been supplying Bulgaria – through the interconnection of the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline – with 800 million cubic metres per year.

The Chief Strategy & Development Officer of the National Natural Gas System Operator (DESFA), Michael Thomadakis, also stated that discussions are underway with the respective administrators at the northern borders in order to develop the required infrastructure for the transport of natural gas through Greece to the North and West, as well as to the North Africa, for cooperation in the transport and storage of carbon dioxide.