Just a few weeks ago, the government was triumphantly celebrating the new lease agreements for hydrocarbon exploration areas. Today, however, following a series of continuous postponements, we are seeing a specific action take place that moves in the exact opposite direction. Specifically, the ExxonMobil–HELLENiQ Energy consortium is withdrawing from the “West of Crete” block and returning it to the State.
As noted in a statement by the Energy Sector and Fragiskos Parasiris, head of the PASOK-Movement for Change Energy Committee, of the PASOK-Movement for Change, “at a time when all countries and major global hydrocarbon companies are seeking new areas, as the Persian Gulf will now be a region of heightened geopolitical risk, in Greece we are seeing companies that were already present leaving instead of proceeding with exploratory drilling!
The government’s silence regarding this negative development raises serious questions about the coherence and credibility of its energy policy in the hydrocarbons sector. After all, regarding what has happened, nothing was initiated on its own initiative; it was simply swept along by events, despite their grandiose public relations spin. Why aren’t the reasons for the withdrawals being disclosed? Could the withdrawal be related to the government’s irresponsible handling of the matter and the years-long delays that have undermined the project?
After all, the withdrawal from Western Crete is not an isolated incident, but the latest link in a long chain of failures during the New Democracy administration. It adds to the abandonment of the country’s onshore and offshore blocks, such as the withdrawal of Repsol and Energean from Aetolia-Acarnania, HELLENiQ Energy from Arta – Preveza, the northwestern Peloponnese, and the western Patraikos Gulf, and Energean’s withdrawal from Ioannina.
The government must stop hiding behind excuses and officially inform the Greek people today:
· What are the real reasons for the consortium’s withdrawal from the strategically important block off Crete?
· What is the cost of its own delays to our country’s energy security and development prospects?
Do the government officials understand that if the policy initiated by PASOK had continued and there had been no inaction or ideological obsessions that led to delays of about 10 years, and if the survey findings are positive, the country could have operational hydrocarbon extraction today and be completely shielded from the current international energy crisis?
Citizens demand seriousness and clear answers, not more empty celebrations of a failed policy.”