Greece Awards Offshore Exploration Blocks to Chevron

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Oct 24, 2025

• Greece has awarded four offshore oil and gas exploration blocks to a consortium led by Chevron, with Helleniq Upstream as a partner, following a tender launched in April.
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• The concession agreements for the South of Peloponnese, A2, South of Crete I, and South of Crete II blocks are expected to be finalized by the end of the year, with seismic surveys and potential test drilling to follow.
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• This move is part of Greece's strategy to enhance its domestic energy supply and explore for significant natural gas resources in its waters, similar to discoveries in Egypt and Israel.
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Greece on Friday announced it is awarding four offshore oil and gas exploration blocks to a Chevron-led consortium. 

Following evaluations and negotiations with Chevron, the joint venture Chevron Greece Holdings – Helleniq Upstream was picked as the selected applicant in the Greek exploration tender launched in April.  

The Chevron-led bid was the sole applicant in the tender for the blocks, named South of Peloponnese, A2, South of Crete I, and South of Crete II. 

Chevron and Greece now need to finalize the concession agreements. 

After the government finalizes the contract with Chevron and Helleniq Energy, expected by the end of the year, the agreement will need to be approved by Greece’s Parliament and a Greek court of auditors, Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou said earlier this month.  

These approvals will be necessary before any seismic surveys can be carried out. The oil companies will then have up to five years to locate potential reserves, and any test drilling would take place no sooner than 2030, Papastavrou added.    

Helleniq Energy has partnered with Chevron and last month submitted a bid to participate in the Greek tender for offshore exploration and production of oil and gas in four offshore areas south of the Peloponnese peninsula and south of the island of Crete. 

Greece has been looking to boost its domestic energy supply by installing renewables and boosting offshore gas exploration after the energy crisis of 2022 and the halt of Russian pipeline gas supply to most EU countries. 

Greece hopes its waters could hold giant natural gas resources, similar to the ones discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean offshore Egypt and Israel.  

In October of 2024, Greece said that a consortium led by the other U.S. supermajor, ExxonMobil, had successfully completed the first exploration phase southwest of Crete and decided to proceed with the second exploration stage. The second exploration phase is expected to last three years, and its minimum requirement pertains to completing the collection and assessment of 3D seismic data.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com