{"id":14276,"date":"2026-04-08T14:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/first-ionian-exploratory-drilling-set-for-early-2027-minister-says\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:42:19","slug":"first-ionian-exploratory-drilling-set-for-early-2027-minister-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/first-ionian-exploratory-drilling-set-for-early-2027-minister-says\/","title":{"rendered":"First Ionian exploratory drilling set for early 2027, minister says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-1300510\">\n    <!-- .entry-header --><\/p>\n<div class=\"first-img article_thumbnail_wrapper\" itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n                                                                    <picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papastaurou-320x200.jpg?v=1775654120\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"600\" class=\"picture-main-block-image\" data-nxsrc=\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papastaurou.jpg?v=1775654120\" alt=\"First Ionian exploratory drilling set for early 2027, minister says\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papastaurou-960x600.jpg?v=1775654121\"\/><br \/>\n                        <\/source><\/picture>\n<p>File photo. [InTime News]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Greece is on track to carry out its first exploratory hydrocarbon drilling in nearly 50 years, with operations in the Ionian Sea expected to begin in early 2027, according to Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to SKAI, Papastavrou said the drilling rig lease will be finalized by April, paving the way for the first exploratory well, involving ExxonMobil, Energean and Helleniq Energy, to commence around January-February 2027.<\/p>\n<p>He added that seismic surveys south of Crete and the Peloponnese are expected to begin before the end of this year, as authorities assess whether potential reserves are commercially viable.<\/p>\n<p>On international developments, Papastavrou expressed cautious optimism that energy prices may ease following a ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran. The reopening of key maritime routes is seen as particularly important for Greece, given its strong shipping sector. However, he warned the truce remains fragile.<\/p>\n<p>The minister stressed that heightened global uncertainty continues to pressure energy reserves, prompting authorities to maintain constant vigilance to ensure at least 90 days of supply security.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of Greek Easter, the ministry is also coordinating with market operators to manage electricity demand and maintain grid stability. Despite seasonal fluctuations, Papastavrou reassured that \u201cthere is no risk of a blackout.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .entry-content --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n        var NXFBPixelFunc = function () {\n            document.removeEventListener(\"scroll\", NXFBPixelFunc);\n            setTimeout(function () {\n                !function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {\n                    if (f.fbq) return;\n                    n = f.fbq = function () {\n                        n.callMethod ?\n                            n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)\n                    };\n                    if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;\n                    n.push = n;\n                    n.loaded = !0;\n                    n.version = '2.0';\n                    n.queue = [];\n                    t = b.createElement(e);\n                    t.async = !0;\n                    t.src = v;\n                    s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n                    s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)\n                }(window, document, 'script',\n                    'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n                fbq('init', '109138906120213');\n                fbq('track', 'PageView');\n            }, 0)\n        };\n        document.addEventListener(\"scroll\", NXFBPixelFunc);\n    <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/economy\/1300510\/first-ionian-exploratory-drilling-set-for-early-2027-minister-says\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>File photo. [InTime News] Greece is on track to carry out its first exploratory hydrocarbon drilling in nearly 50 years, with operations in the Ionian Sea expected to begin in early 2027, according to Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou. Speaking to SKAI, Papastavrou said the drilling rig lease will be finalized by April, paving &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"First Ionian exploratory drilling set for early 2027, minister says\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/first-ionian-exploratory-drilling-set-for-early-2027-minister-says\/#more-14276\" aria-label=\"Read more about First Ionian exploratory drilling set for early 2027, minister says\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papastaurou-960x600.jpg?v=1775654121","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}