The Hellenic Parliament, in a plenary session on Thursday, ratified four concessions allowing the exploratory drilling and extraction of hydrocarbons in regions of the Ionian Sea and waters west of Crete.
Lawmakers approved the draft bill for the ratification of the agreement with:
- Hellenic Petroleum SA for the concession of exploration and production rights in Block 10 in the Ionian Sea (180 votes in favour, 25 against, 75 abstentions)
- Repsol Exploracion SA and Hellenic Petroleum SA for offshore drilling in the 'Ionio' region of Western Greece (181 votes in favour, 27 against, 74 abstentions)
- Total E&P Greece B.V, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Greece (Crete) B.V and Hellenic Petroleum SA for offshore exploratory drilling and production rights in the sea region 'Southwest Crete', Greece (172 votes in favour, 36 against and 74 abstentions)
- Total E&P Greece B.V, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Greece (Crete) B.V and Hellenic Petroleum SA for offshore exploratory drilling and production rights in the sea region 'West of Crete', Greece (172 votes in favour, 36 against and 74 abstentions)
The concession contracts were signed by the previous SYRIZA government and tabled in Parliament without any change by the current government. SYRIZA nevertheless abstained during the vote on the ratification of the contracts and four SYRIZA MPs voted against them.
All four draft bills were supported by the Movement for Change (KINAL) party, while the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and MeRA25 voted against. Elliniki Lysi voted for the two contracts in the Ionian but against those west of Crete.
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