Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reported Tuesday that the country has begun natural gas exploration activities southwest of the island of Crete.
He explained that the objective is to achieve the extraction of hydrocarbons at a time of energy crisis, an important issue not only for the Hellenic country but also for the European Union as a whole, he said in an interview with the national television channel.
The exploration work is being carried out by the state-owned energy company EDEY together with the U.S. oil company ExxonMobil. However, many believe that these activities could increase tension with Turkey, with whom Athens has a dispute in the eastern Mediterranean.
In an agreement with Libya, Turkey has recently denied Greece the right to maintain an exclusive economic zone south of Crete and other Greek islands. There are several deposits rich in natural gas in the region.
The Greek leader has also defended that Greece «has not abandoned the idea of reducing its dependence on fossil fuels» while increasing investments in renewable energies.
In this sense, he confirmed that Greece is working together with Egypt in an attempt to become the largest producer and exporter of green energy, according to the newspaper ‘Kathimerini’.
«We want to be the main exporter of green energy to central Europe. We are talking with the Egyptians to bring forward ambitious plans to connect Africa with Greece,» he said.
The Greek government intends to go ahead with these explorations despite the fact that during the summer of 2020 the international community condemned similar activities launched by Turkey in the area.
