Greece’s Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou traveled to Houston on Thursday for successive meetings with senior executives from Chevron and ExxonMobil, signaling Athens’ push to fast-track offshore hydrocarbon exploration.
At Chevron’s headquarters, Papastavrou met with Kevin McLachlan, the company’s vice president for exploration, alongside Tali Lederman, senior commercial manager for North Africa and the Mediterranean; Beatrice Bienvenu, Chevron’s country manager for Greece; and Paul Landis, senior exploration manager for the Mediterranean.
Central to the discussions was Chevron’s application to join the concession for Block 10, an offshore area in the Southern Ionian Sea near the Kyparissiakos Gulf. Chevron and Greek energy company HELLENiQ ENERGY have jointly submitted a request for the American major to acquire a 70% stake in the block and assume the role of operator, replacing HELLENiQ ENERGY, which currently holds full ownership of the exploration rights and would retain the remaining 30%. The block is approaching its third and final exploration phase, which involves exploratory drilling, with earlier seismic survey work already completed.
The Greek Minister of Environment and Energy briefed Chevron on efforts to expedite the required regulatory approvals and invited company representatives to Athens over the coming weeks to complete the formal licensing process.
The two sides also discussed next steps for seismic surveys across four existing offshore blocks south of Crete and south of the Peloponnese. Seismic surveys are preliminary geological studies used to map subsurface geology and assess the hydrocarbon potential of an area before drilling begins.
Papastavrou then met with Neil Hartley, who leads ExxonMobil’s exploration programs in Europe and North Africa. Their talks centered on developments in the Middle East and the increasingly prominent role of the Eastern Mediterranean in global hydrocarbon markets. The meeting also included a detailed review of progress toward an exploratory well planned for the Northwestern Ionian Sea in February 2027.
