What is the importance of the natural gas fields to the west and southwest of the prefecture of Chania in Crete, Greece? Greek hydrocarbons could power the EU for 50 years, a historic economic boost for Greece!
To the west and southwest of Crete, in particular the prefecture of Chania, there are at least 10 coral reefs with biogenic natural gas (Figures 1 and 2). It’s estimated the quantity of around 10 trillion m3. With this quantity, we can supply/export 200 billion m3 of natural gas to the European Union for 50 years, which is the lifetime of the deposits.
![GR GAS RESERVES -1 - TA NEA](https://tanea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GR-GAS-RESERVES-1-1024x683.webp)
![GR GAS RESERVES -2 - TA NEA](https://tanea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GR-GAS-RESERVES-2-1024x683.webp)
As a result of this exploitation, the Greek State will receive from ExxonMobil $ 650 trillion, given that the value of the deposits, $ 10/1000 m3, amounts to $3250000 billion. With this amount, we pay off the public debt of $ 400 billion and are left with another $ 3.249600 billion. This is a huge amount and a huge economic benefit for Greece.
So exploitation is necessary and is planned to be started by ExxonMobil in September 2025.
Of course, the production platform worth $ 4 billion (figure 3) will have to be set up and the gas liquefaction facilities on the island of Gavdos will have to be built, as well as the LNG ship reception harbours, figures 4 and 5 (at the end of the text).
![GR GAS RESERVES -3 - TA NEA](https://tanea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GR-GAS-RESERVES-3-1024x683.webp)
The wealth south-west of Crete
All procedures require the presence of qualified personnel. It is estimated that about 10000 people will be needed to exploit the gas reserves located in the 10 targets. The importance of exploiting these fields is enormous and exponentially enhances Greece’s role in the Eastern Mediterranean.
![GR GAS RESERVES -4b - TA NEA](https://tanea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GR-GAS-RESERVES-4b-1024x683.webp)
![GR GAS RESERVES -5 - TA NEA](https://tanea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GR-GAS-RESERVES-5-1024x683.webp)
Source: FOSCOLOS ANTONIS