Greece’s largest refiner, Hellenic Petroleum, said today it had signed an oil exploration deal in Egypt, extending its activities abroad.
The refiner said the seven-year deal to drill for oil in an area covering 1841 square kilometres in west Obayed will cost about $26 million. The area borders with the Obayed region where Shell is managing a natural gas find.
Hellenic Petroleum controls more than 70% of Greece’s wholesale oil market and has been looking for new areas of growth, including exploration. The refiner has won contracts to explore for oil in both Libya and Egypt, Reuters reported.
Last month Hellenic Petroleum said a consortium in which it holds a 20% stake made a new natural gas find in Libya.
The consortium, including Spain’s Repsol YPF and Australia’s Woodside Petroleum , discovered gas in an exploratory well in Libya’s Syrtis Basin.

(Upstream Online)