US energy giant Chevron has submitted a joint bid with Greece’s HelleniQ Energy to explore four offshore blocks south of Crete and the Peloponnese, Greece’s energy minister said Wednesday, marking a development Athens sees as strengthening its sovereign rights in disputed waters.
The government launched the tender earlier this year after Chevron and HelleniQ expressed interest in deep-sea exploration. Bids closed Wednesday at 5 p.m.
“Today, the Chevron and HelleniQ Energy consortium announced its participation in the international competition for the four offshore blocks south of Crete and the Peloponnese. This opens a new chapter for the exploitation of the underwater energy wealth of our homeland,” Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou said. “Greece, with national self-confidence, is laying solid foundations for its energy self-sufficiency and leveraging its geopolitical position in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Papastavrou added.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Chevron’s bid “the best proof of how our government understands the upgrading of Greece’s geopolitical position.”
He also announced plans to meet Thursday with US Interior Secretary Doug Bergman to discuss “how we are continually upgrading Greece’s strategic, geopolitical and energy role.”
Chevron confirmed the joint bid in a statement to Kathimerini, saying it looked forward to completing tender evaluations and emphasized the region’s strategic importance: “Chevron has a large and important position in the Eastern Mediterranean, a region which is very much a part of our future and a priority for us.”
HelleniQ Energy said its participation consolidates its exploration and production activities, calling Chevron’s move a “new country entry.”
Greece views the project as a response to Turkey’s maritime claims under a memorandum signed with Libya’s Tripoli government, which disputes Greece’s rights around Crete.
Athens, heavily reliant on gas imports, is seeking domestic resources as part of a broader European Union push to reduce dependence on Russian energy after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Major discoveries off Egypt have fueled expectations that Greek waters may hold untapped reserves. The area borders two blocks where ExxonMobil and partners have conducted seismic surveys.