With the aim of accelerating the development of the hydrocarbon sector, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Stavros Papastavrou, held a series of meetings in Houston with senior executives from Chevron and ExxonMobil.
Specifically, Mr. Papastavrou visited the headquarters of Chevron where he met with Mr. Kevin McLachlan, Vice President for Exploration. Also present at the meeting on Chevron’s side were Ms. Tali Lederman, Senior Manager Commercial for North Africa and the Mediterranean, Ms. Beatrice Bienvenu, Country Manager for Greece, and Mr. Paul Landis, Senior Manager of Exploration for the Mediterranean.
The focus of the discussion was Chevron’s growing interest in Greece’s hydrocarbon sector, which was demonstrated by its request to participate in the 5th offshore block with a 70% stake in Area 10 of the Southern Ionian Sea. The Greek side informed Chevron of the expedited processing of the necessary regulatory approvals and invited the company to Athens next week to finalize the planned procedure. Furthermore, the necessary steps for seismic surveys in the four existing offshore blocks south of Crete and south of the Peloponnese were discussed.
Subsequently, Mr. Papastavrou met with Mr. Neil Hartley, Head of ExxonMobil’s exploration programs in Europe and North Africa, with the meeting’s agenda focusing on developments in the Middle East and the enhanced role of the Eastern Mediterranean in the hydrocarbons sector, while progress regarding the exploratory drilling scheduled to take place in the Northwest Ionian Sea in February 2027 was discussed in detail.
Later, the Minister of Environment and Energy will participate in the Ministerial Meeting of the 3+1 Energy Cooperation Framework, together with the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Mr. Chris Wright, the Minister of Energy, Commerce, and Industry of Cyprus, Mr. Michalis Damianos, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yechiel Leiter, and the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Energy, Mr. Moshe Dayan. At the conclusion of the conference, Mr. Papastavrou will hold a bilateral meeting with his American counterpart, Mr. Wright.
The visit will conclude with the signing of the declaration establishing the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center (EMEC), which will serve as a hub for research and development in energy security and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean, strengthening synergies among states and boosting entrepreneurship.
