CAPITAL: ATHENS
MONETARY UNIT: DRACHMA
REFINING CAPACITY: 406,500 B/CD
OIL PRODUCTION: 5,200 B/D
OIL RESERVES: 10 MILLION bbl
GAS RESERVES: 35 BCF

Greece's Hellenic Petroleum SA (HP) was refocusing its exploration and production strategy by farming out domestic acreage and expanding its international portfolio over 5 years.

The state-owned company, Greece's largest industrial and commercial firm, had exclusive rights to explore and produce on 54,000 sq km off Greece. It had established its first concessions covering 12,000 sq km of onshore and offshore areas in western Greece.

Greece merged its disparate state energy interests into HP in June 1998. HP has acquired the Mamidakis-owned companies of Greece and OKTA, a company that owned a refinery in the former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia.

Two consortia were created to participate in four license areas created from the western Greece concessions. Britain's Enterprise Oil PLC had 40%, Union Texas Petroleum Holdings 28%, and MOL 20% of the Northwest Peloponnesos and Ioannina areas. Triton Oil Corp. operated license areas in the Gulf of Patraikos and Aitoloakarnania areas. HP had a 12% stake in all license areas.

The four concessions had been under license since 1997. Seismic surveying in the Northwest Peloponnesos area was complete, and data were being analyzed. Meanwhile, seismic surveys continued on Enterprise's northern Ioannina block.

Western Greece was considered a high-risk area since it had no commercial discoveries. However, the presence of proven oil and gas reserves in the adjacent mountains of southern Albania and a similar geology across the Adriatic in southern Italy were causes for optimism.

Meanwhile, HP withdrew from participation in the idle state-owned Prinos field in the northern Aegean Sea.

Prinos field's remaining reserves were estimated at 8 million bbl, and its production capacity was 7,000 b/d.

Bosporus bypass

Greece continued to promote its alternative to a Caspian Sea export pipeline.

The deal, mostly for the export of Russian oil, would involve Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece. Russian oil would be shipped across the Black Sea by tanker from Novorossiisk to Burgas. Then a 300-km, $688 million line would move the oil from Bulgaria to the Aegean seaport of Alexandroupolis.

The Russian partners would take 40%, the Greeks 30%, Bulgarians 20%, and Chevron Corp. 10%.

The pipeline would move 10-15 million tonnes/year, expandable to 35 million tonnes/year.

The Greek government planned to sell shares of the state-owned natural gas company, Public Natural Gas Enterprises through the Athens Stock Exchange as early as 2001.

It also pledged to speed efforts to open the country's energy markets to competition by 2001.

As part of that effort, the government planned to establish a futures exchange for energy. The exchange would trade oil contracts first and later trade electricity and natural gas.

The European Commission decided in late 2000 to allow Greece an additional year, until Jan. 1, 2002, to comply with the commission's ban on unleaded gasoline.

The EU said Greece needed the additional time for a public education campaign directed at owners of cars built to use leaded fuel.