HelleniQ Energy has secured a 15-month extension to decide the future of its Ionian block, one of several offshore concessions it holds off western Greece.
The Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA), the state authority that licenses oil and gas exploration in Greece, signed off on the request, pushing the deadline for the concession’s second exploration phase to Oct. 9, 2027.
HelleniQ owns the block outright, having been awarded the acreage in 2019. It sits in the northern Ionian Sea, running from west of Corfu down toward Lefkada, and covers 5,001.78 square kilometers in water depths of 500 to 2,800 meters.
The company wants to use the extra time to reprocess its seismic data, firm up the block’s commercial case, and farm in a partner with offshore drilling experience before it commits to the next stage of work. It also needs the supporting infrastructure lined up before a rig could go to work. Entering that third phase would tie HelleniQ to a minimum work program built around a single exploration well.
The block has advanced in measured steps. HelleniQ shot 1,600 kilometers of 2D seismic in early 2022, added 1,150 square kilometers of 3D data later that year, and moved into the second exploration phase in July 2023 to interpret it. The extension carries that work into late 2027.
According to industry insiders, HelleniQ is looking for an investor who can potentially take on the role of operator as well during the block’s next phase.
The likeliest candidates are the two U.S. majors HelleniQ already works with nearby. Because the Ionian block sits next to Block 2, where HelleniQ holds a stake alongside ExxonMobil and operator Energean, market talk has focused on an approach to ExxonMobil. A similar proposal is said to have gone to Chevron, which recently agreed to come into HelleniQ’s Block 10 off the Gulf of Kyparissia. TotalEnergies and Eni, both active in the eastern Mediterranean, have also been mentioned as possible investors.
HelleniQ’s timing hangs on Block 2, the most advanced prospect in Greek waters. The consortium there plans to drill Greece’s first offshore exploration well in nearly 40 years, Asopos-1, in February 2027, with results clear by April. A commercial find would likely open the way for a deal on the Ionian block soon after.
Separately, the regulator is preparing to open new ground. It has launched an international tender for seismic surveys off western and southern Greece, in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete, to build the data for a possible new licensing round over acreage that has not yet been leased.
Source: OT.gr
