ΕΛΛΑΔΑ: ΚΥΡΙΟΣ ΠΑΙΚΤΗΣ ΣΤΑ ΚΟΙΤΑΣΜΑΤΑ ΥΔΡΟΓΟΝΑΝΘΡΑΚΩΝ ΕΝΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ 2018

Η ΤΟΝΙΑ ΔΗΜΟΥ ΤΗΣ ""ERPIC" και ο ΓΡΗΓΟΡΗΣ ΣΤΕΡΓΙΟΥΛΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΕΛ.ΠΕ. ΑΝΑΛΥΟΥΝ ΤΗΝ ΤΡΕΧΟΥΣΑ ΕΠΙΚΑΙΡΟΤΗΤΑ

[JimmyTheGreek]

Hellenic Petroleum (HP) is a Refining & Marketing (R&M company) company and not an Exploration & Production Company (E&P company) and because it is an R&M company is not able to discover oil and gas. Why, Because refining Engineers are not exploration geologists.

The exploration results of the last 50 years and the corresponding investment are not very encouraging, over 200 exploration wells drilled and very few and very small oil and gas discoveries have been found or discovered. For example, the Prinos fields complex in North Greece was not discovered by Hellenic Petroleum.

Comparing the Exploration potential of offshore Egypt, Israel and Cyprus to Greece is good, however, the risk that the natural gas has escaped to the atmosphere is greater offshore Greece is HIGHER for two reasons:

First, the Messinian Evaporites (salt layers / salt formations) which are THE KEY ELEMEMNTS and ALSO THE MAJOR RISC are much THINNER offshore Greece because it is deeper in the geological section.

Second, escaping natural gas at the bottom of the see and the related mounds created by the escaping natural gas are indeed positive indicators and at the same time point to the risk mentioned above … that the gas was not trapped and has escaped.
In other words, one of the MOST CRITICAL elements (four total) of the generation, migration and entrapment of hydrocarbons is very weak or while present is very risky.

I do not say we should not drill the prospects offshore Greece, I am for drilling … as this is the ONLY method to know for certain if potential exists!
I say that we should not be very OPTIMISTIC as the risk is GREATER offshore Greece and the Western Mediterranean Sea in general.