US oil energy corporation Chevron has submitted a bid to explore for natural gas in Greece, Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou announced on Wednesday. The decision is of particular significance for Greece as the governments sees it as a “green card” for stability in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
In partnership with oil refiner HelleniQEnergy, Chevron will explore in four blocks off the island of Crete.
The Greek government launched the tender for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons on 30. April 2025 after Chevron and HelleniQEnergy expressed interest in four deep-sea blocks off the Peloponnese and the island of Crete.
The relevant Call for Tenders, was published by the Ministry of Environment & Energy on April 30, 2025for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the four offshore areas south of Peloponnese and south of Crete.
The offer was submitted on Wednesday with the deadline to have ended at 5 p.m.
This participation complements and consolidates the HelleniQ Energy’s exploration and production activities in the area, while for Chevron this is a new country entry.
Energy minister Papastavrou, emphasized that the collaboration of Chevron-HelleniQEnergy consortium marks a new chapter in the utilization of Greece’s undersea energy resources, which, establishes a robust foundation for the country’s energy self-sufficiency and leverages its geopolitical significance in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Last March, when Chevron had expressed interest in the area, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had told a cabinet meeting that the energy multinational’s interest “actively recognizes Greece’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the (maritime) region”.
In his capacity as chair of the White House National Energy Dominance Council, the US Secretary of Interior, Doug Burgum, is expected to visit Athens on Thursday to deepen energy cooperation between the two countries.
While Greece was cheering, Turkish Energy Minister,lparslan Bayraktar was posting on X that he met “with top executives of Chevron, one of the leading companies in the global energy sector.
We evaluated opportunities for cooperation in LNG trade, as well as hydrocarbon exploration and production.
Küresel enerji sektörünün önde gelen şirketlerinden Chevron'un üst düzey yöneticileriyle bir görüşme gerçekleştirdik.
LNG ticareti ile hidrokarbon arama ve üretimi konularında iş birliği imkanlarını değerlendirdik. pic.twitter.com/pl1sGXJEli
— Alparslan Bayraktar (@aBayraktar1) September 10, 2025
