The Prime Minister Antonis Samaras as well as the government Vice President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos will attend a ceremony on Wednesday, May 14, in which agreements for hydrocarbon explorations, surveys and extraction/production in three separate areas of Greece will be signed.
The agreements to be signed have already been scrutinized and approved by the Court of Audit, as follows:
1. The joint venture of Energean Oil and Gas/Petra Petroleum will be the concessionaire for a reserve in the land area of Ioannina in northwestern Greece, where up to 100 million oil barrels are expected to be produced.
2. The joint venture of Hellenic Petroleum/Edison/Petroceltic will be the concessionaire for an offshore reserve in the Gulf of Patras, at the western exit of the Gulf of Corinth. The reserve is estimated to be able to offer about 200 million oil barrels.
3. The joint venture Energean Oil and Gas/Trajan Oil & Gas Ltd. will be the concessionaire for an oil reserve at Katakolo in northwestern Peloponnese, east of Zakynthos island. This is the largest of the three reserves, expected to produce up to 3 million oil barrels.
The agreements to be signed include a 20 pct regular tax rate, plus an additional regional tax of 5 pct. The final value of each agreement will depend on factors such as the production level, the geographic, geological and other area characteristics and the revenue/expenses ratio.
Investors will be bound to a minimum level of investment at each exploration/survey phase, as well as a minimum investment value secured with a letter of guarantee. The effective tax rate of the three agreements will remain stable over time, in order to safeguard the long-term return on investment of each concession.
The oil production will be governed by the strictest European environmental law specifications, while the concessionaires will be obliged to educate and train Greek personnel in the hydrocarbon sector.
According to Energy Ministry projections, every direct job in the hydrocarbon sector will result in the creation of another 3.2 new full-time jobs in the greater economy. Moreover, every one dollar of added value in the sector is estimated to produce an additional 1.3 dollars of added value in the greater economy.
(source: ana-mpa)
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