Will Greece Be the Big Winner Out Of the Ukraine Crisis?

Professor Foskolos (University of Crete and researcher at the Geological Survey of Canada): The known reserves of oil and gas in Greece are larger than those of Russia!!!

By Nick Stamatakis

Those of us who are closely following the geopolitical affairs of Greece and Cyprus are for the last twelve years (and some of us for the last thirty years and more!) preoccupied with the immense wealth hidden underground in Greece and Cyprus and especially in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the two countries covering a large swath of the Eastern Mediterranean. Oil, natural gas, rare earth minerals, bauxites, lignites, and other resources are part of this wealth.

Up to a few weeks ago, we were accusing the corrupt political elites of Greece of criminal negligence bordering treason for not developing these natural resources.  For decades we have been watching Albania producing oil in wells just a few kilometers away from the border with Greece! For hundreds of years, oil was springing out of the sea in Katakolon in Western Peloponnese!  The only oil development in Greece materialized near the island of Thasos and began during the years of the military junta (1967-74 – No wonder, most Greeks are looking up to retired military men as the optimal solution for the country’s huge political problems and especially corruption…)

In recent years the totally inept and corrupt Mitsotakis government has been taking orders both from Berlin and from Washington DC.  Berlin ordered Greece to close down the very efficient electricity-producing factories using a form of coal (lignite) and replace them with German-made windmills (universally hated in Greece).  Thankfully, after the Ukraine War erupted and especially after the sanctions against Russia took effect, the whole of Europe had to reverse course and these factories are being re-started as we speak!… Washington DC ordered Greece to start importing American LNG (at least 2-3 times more expensive than Algerian or Russian natural gas) – and the first import happened near my hometown of Pireaus about 3 years ago… US policy also declared Greece as a major energy transport hub for SouthEastern Europe, with the port of Alexandroupolis as a major center.  But US officials were for decades undermining any effort for drilling and development of hydrocarbons in Greece, by pushing idiotic proposals for “equitable” distribution between Greece and Turkey.  As if there is no International Law of the Sea, describing each country’s legal rights in the surrounding waters!

But suddenly, after the recent developments in Ukraine, much of the above has changed, as everybody realized that American LNG will never be enough to supply Europe. The Mitsotakis government suddenly found its voice and started again developing serious plans for energy exploration – starting from Northern Greece, near the Albanian border! And American and French companies who had stopped drilling in the South of Crete suddenly revived their plans.  The proposed East-Med gas pipeline (starting from Israel and  Cyprus towards Greece and Italy), declared dead a few months ago (by none other than US undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland) is now again alive and plans are being made to finish it within three years! And Cyprus, which was already ahead of Greece both in EEZ delineation and drilling, is accelerating its plans…

The numbers are staggering: Those of you who understand Greek please listen to professor Antonis Foskolos (University of Crete and researcher at the Geological Survey of Canada), a true specialist, explain that the known reserves of oil and gas in Greece are larger than those of Russia!!!

I will close by saying that we Greeks believe in the “God of Greece”, a certain type of “Deus ex machina” (“God from the machine”), who never fails to appear in the most critical moment and save the country!!  This is such a moment! (Provided of course that the State Department will stop favoring such dangerous ideas as “equitable distribution” with Turkey – Why don’t they “equitably” distribute American oil wealth with Cuba and the Bahamas?

BELOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO PROF. FOSKOLOS EXPLAIN… THOSE OF YOU WHO PREFER ENGLISH PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK FROM 2012 – PROFESSOR FOSKOLOS HAS BEEN SAYING THESE FACTS FOR AT LEAST THE PAST DECADE!!!

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Πηγή: i-epikaira.blogspot.com