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Greece and the Ionian Sea, when the Ministry for
Industry (as it was then called) invited a large
team of scientists from France's IFP oil institute to
conduct research. The French worked meticu-
lously and methodically till 1966, albeit with poor
results. However, the results of these surveys
would be different if today's technological
advances in hydrocarbon exploration and produc-
tion were applied, while it also has to be noted
that natural gas was of minor importance at the
time. Geological, geophysical and drilling explo-
ration was performed in the Greek mainland till
1969, and after that year exploration was extend-
ed offshore. In 1975 the newly-established Public
Petroleum Corporation (DEP) launched its own
exploration activities. As part of this exploration,
almost 120-130 exploratory drillings were carried
out in Greece, 95-100 onshore and the remainder
offshore, a number that is considered to be small
by international standards.
The drillings that took place in the period 1939-
2005 are classified into five categories, according
to the agency that carried them out:
● 1939-1974, various companies: 51, of an aver-
age depth of 1,800 m.
● 1962-1967, Greek State: 17, of an average
depth of 1,450 m.
● 1975-1994, DEP, DEP-EKY: 76, of an average
depth of 2,320 m.
● 1997-2002, oil majors: 6, of an average depth
of 2,320 m.
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