Greece approves tender for hydrocarbons search in four offshore blocks

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece has approved an international tender for hydrocarbon exploration in four blocks in the Mediterranean Sea, following an expression of interest by Chevron and Helleniq Energy, the energy ministry said on Thursday.

Greece this week issued a ministerial decision to launch an international tender after it accepted Chevron's interest for two blocks south of Crete and for one block off the Peloponnese peninsula, the energy ministry said in a statement.

An ExxonMobil-led <XOM.N> consortium has been evaluating seismic data after winning a licence to look for gas in another two blocks of Crete.

Interested investors will have 90 days to bid for the new blocks once the tender is published in the official gazette of the European Union, the ministry added.

Greece relies on oil and gas imports to cover part of its domestic needs but has renewed its drive to look for hydrocarbons in recent years, encouraged by major gas finds off Egypt, which lies south of Crete, and despite a long-standing dispute with Turkey about jurisdiction over energy resources in the Aegean Sea.

Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou was expected to meet Chevron officials during a trip to the United States later this month, a Greek energy ministry official told Reuters.  

Greece has said it aims to conclude the tender by August and have the lease agreements with selected bidders approved by parliament by the end of the year.

(Reporting by Angeliki KoutantouEditing by Mark Potter)