IENE’s Upstream Workshop to Bring Together Some of the Region’s Top Experts

The detailed programme of IENE’s 2nd SE Europe Regional Upstream Workshop on “Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production in the Adriatic, the Black Sea and the East Mediterranean” has just been announced. The programme has been posted on IENE’s website under the Workshop’s banner. The Workshop will take place in Athens, on October 31st -November 1st, 2013, and will be held under the auspices of Greece’s Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change, which is in charge of the country’s hydrocarbon sector). As significant developments in hydrocarbon exploration in the countries of the area are unfolding at an increasingly fast pace, this IENE Workshop will bring together experts, executives and senior government officials involved in exploration and production activities of the region in order to discuss and analyze latest prospects and business opporunities.

The Workshop will refer to the latest geological, geophysical and seismic research, , as well as on the relevant legal and financial framework, in the countries of the area, and will cover specific regions in the Black Sea, the Eastern part of the Mediterranean basin and the Adriatic Sea. A diverse country group is proposed which includes Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania.

Prof. John Maniatis, Greece’s Minister of Environment, Energy & Climate Change, will address the Workshop, following opening remarks by Mr. Costis Stambolis, Executive Director of IENE. Prof. John Mazis, Professor of Economic Geography- Geopolitics of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece will refer to the geopolitical framework of the area as well as to the geopolitical implications of the hydrocarbon explorations.

In the 2nd session, Dr. Hans Hutta (General Director, International Center for Petroleum & Industrial Management, ICM, Vienna, Austria), Prof. Radu Dudau (Executive Director, Romania Energy Center - ROEC, Bucharest, Romania), Mr. Laurentiou Pachiu (Head of Pachiu and Associates, Bucharest, Romania) and Mr. Ongun Yoldemir (CEO, Merty Energy, Ankara, Turkey) will focus on the findings and prospects of hydrocarbon exploration and production in the Black Sea region (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey).

Mr. Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean Oil & Gas S.A., the company that operates Greece’s only oil field at Prinos, Mr. Hank David, the new Business Development Manager of Energean Oil & Gas S.A, as well as representatives from Croatia’s state hydrocarbon company (INA) and a representative of the Ministry of Economy of Montenegro will speak in the 3rd session, providing feedback and assessments on the Adriatic, i.e. Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Albania and Greece.

The speakers in the second part of this session will include some of the basic players of Greece’s hydrocarbon sector, namely Prof. Sofia Stamataki, (Mining Engineering, School of Mining & Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece), and Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change, Dr. Constantinos Nicolaou, CEO of Kanergy Ltd and Member of IENE’s Board of Directors, and Dr. Ioannis Grigoriou (Mining Engineer and Geophysicist, Director, Hydrocarbons Research & Production, HELPE S.A., Athens, Greece).

The East Mediterranean (Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece) will be examined in the 4th session of the Workshop and speakers will include: Ms. Teresa Fokianou (CEO, Flow Energy & Environmental Operations SA, Athens, Greece), Dr. Solon Kassinis, Chairman of Kassinis International Consulting Company, (Nicosia, Cyprus) and former executive Vice Chairman of the Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company (CNHC- KRETYK), Dr. Eitan Aizenberg, Exploration Manager, Ratio Oil Exploration (Tel-Aviv, Israel ), Mr. Mehmet Sünnetçioğlu, Expert Engineer, TPAO (Ankara, Turkey), Mr. Barış Kalkavan, Counsellor at the Embassy of Turkey in Athens and Prof. Grigoris Tsaltas, Professor of International Law, Chancellor of the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens. A round table discussion with the participation of the aforementioned speakers will follow and will focus on the various issues at hand and will cover opportunities and problems related to oil and gas exploration in the East Mediterranean.

The detailed programme of tis IENE Workshop is available on the Institute’s website ( www.iene.gr). The Workshop is sponsored by the Energean Oil and Gas Company and Romania’s Grup Servicii Petroliere SA. Media partners include Energia.gr and SEENews.