Ever since November of 2014 that the Licensing round re: the 20 marine blocks of the Ionian Sea and South of Crete was opened, we had placed particular emphasis on the need, that the characteristics of the tender procedure should be compatible with what prevails internationally, so that we could obtain many investment offers from large oil companies.
We had specifically pointed out that in order for the licensing round to be attractive to large and robust oil companies, the size of the marine blocks should’ve catered for the geological and economic risk of the expected investments in the region.
Instead of it, we found that the size of the blocks issued to tender by the previous minister, was generally equable, and without differentiation according to any geological data, and the expected geological hazards of possible discoveries in the region.
Particularly so in the Northern Ionian Sea, where we were already aware of the targets of the structures of both Achilles and Pyrrhus, but no special care was taken to ensure that the mapped structures would be included within that actual geographical investment context.
In the attached figure we give the size and the location of the block which would’ve had good possibilities into attracting more than one bid from a large oil company.
As a result of this handling of the matter, in July of 2015 we finally had a single offer for block 2, and more generally, merely three bids in total, regarding the 20 Greek marine blocks proclaimed.
Simultaneously, we’ve discovered that during the opening of the licensing round no provision was made in the case for which a single tender would’ve taken place, of a one and only interested candidate investor in regards to the above mentioned blocks.
As if all that wasn’t enough, because in concession rounds of marine blocks by other countries, it’s avoided -mainly- for a licensing round to be awarded to a single candidate, in January of 2016 the competent new Minister of Energy found a new mountain in front of him.
While in similar international licensing rounds regarding marine block concessions, the bidding companies receive an answer re: the awards within 3 to 6 months at the most, TOTAL’s triple consortium didn’t get a reply until 27 months later!
From nformation deriving from the French side, we’ve learned that there would’ve been no response from the “competent” Ministry if it wasn’t for TOTAL’s written ultimatum that if there wasn’t an answer up until the end of October, they would’ve withdrawn from the licensing round.
Simultaneously, according to our information, TOTAL has plans to invest a large amount towards block 2, but only under the prerequisite that until the end of November the amount would be certified and made accessible by the Board of Directors in France for the next 3 years.
The dilemma now is, whether the competent Ministry of Energy will be able to reach a Validated Agreement with TOTAL’s Consortium of not, by the end of November.
We wish for the best, but that requires on the part of the Government, the delegation to capable and highly experienced negotiators in concessions re: hydrocarbon research and exploitation, through bureaucratic Fast-Track procedures.
We ought to remind the Minister of Energy, that it’s not necessary (as the former Minister did) for the contract to be ratified by the Parliament (which will require at least 2 to 3 months to process) but by his own signature alone.
Of course political support is a prerequisite for that, because the legal awarding could be considered a direct award, and not as anticipated by law, through a licensing round strictly.