by John Carr

30-04-07

Greece, Bulgaria and Russia in March signed an agreement to build a EUR 880 mm oil pipeline to carry Russian crude oil across their countries to the Aegean. The talks had dragged on for 14 years. It was a strong hint by Russia that it would seek alternative supply routes if Greece was not forthcoming that concentrated minds in Athens.
To the Greek Government, the word “alternative” could mean only one country -- Turkey. The pipeline will provide a way round the tanker route through the Bosporus, where Turkey could theoretically place a choke-hold at any time. By the time of its scheduled completion in 2011, it will run 285 km (177 miles) from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to Alexandroupolis on the north shore of the Aegean Sea, with up to 700,000 bpd surging through it.

The subtext is that, as in the days of Near East great power diplomacy in the 19th century, Russia could be signalling support for Greece in its 30-year rivalry with Turkey over oil deposits under theAegean. It is a rivalry that can only intensify as the world demand for crude keeps oil prices high.
German geologists found signs of Aegean oil during the Second World War. Their findings lay in the vaults of Germany’s Wintershall oil drilling company until 1973, when they were used by Oceanic Exploration and later by Denison Mines, of Canada, to start drilling. It is no accident that 1973 is the year Greece and Turkey -- both dependent on imported oil -- began a drawn-out diplomatic argument that almost erupted into war four times.

Constantine Collmer, a Greek journalist and author of Greece’s Petroleum, says 200 mm barrels of crude oil lie under the Aegean. This has been tapped for 30 years by the Prinos I and II offshore oil rigs, which extract 10,000 bpd. Greece, however signed away its rights to the oil to foreign oil companies years ago.
“If the Prinos deposits were under Greece’s control the country could be self-sufficient in energy,” Collmer adds. Studies show that about a third of Greece, including its territorial waters, is on top of large oil and natural gas deposits. Greek governments in future can be expected to come under public pressure to exploit more domestic crude oil in the interests of keeping fuel pump prices down.

Turkey claims 1,000 islands in the Aegean are of uncertain sovereignty, some with known oil deposits.
Ironically, Greece and Turkey spend big sums on fuel to keep their jet fighters in the Aegean skies to warn each other off the disputed areas. Defusing this rivalry will tax the best talents of Greece’s diplomats.



Source: Times Online