Greece: MASSIVE Oil Reserves (Gas Alone = $9 TRILLION) More Than Enough to Solve Public Debt Crisis-

Reaganite Republican ^ | September 24, 2012 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Not that kind

As Greece takes unpopular austerity measures and talks of leasing-out 40 uninhabited islands in part of ongoing efforts to get their tattered books in order, did anybody else notice how Angela Merkel went from a previously ambivalent stand re. the Greeks leaving the EU to the most recent 'save Greece at any cost' position? And in defiance of German public opinion, exposing herself politically back home?

Explanation for the sudden turn-around likely has something to do with the fact that largely-unexplored Greece sits on the western edge of a massive sub-Mediterranean oil and gas field, with Israel and Cypress at the other perimetrers. 
Israel discovered the resource in 2010, and is already producing in small amounts.

Now, an alliance between these three states is forming to deliver all the natural gas produced to planned Greek pipelines, then on to Italy and the EU network, bringing further revenue and employment to the Hellenic state while lessening European dependence on Russian energy. 

Alas, Turkey (and Syria) can also lay claim the deposits, and this complicates the situation somewhat: they and the Greeks basically hate each other, and the same Israelis that Ankara has recently snubbed are leaving them out-in-the-cold as they do BIG business with Athens.

Experts say that Greece has approximately 26 billion barrels of oil -mostly offshore- of it's own, and that exploitation of those reserves would ultimately amount to 300,000 good jobs- that's nearly a third of the total unemployed in the country today (official Greek unemployment stands at and eye-watering 24%,
as much as 30% in reality)...

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Global Research:

 

Greece’s Energean Oil and Gas began increased investment into drilling in the offshore waters after a successful smaller oil discovery in 2009. Major geological surveys were made. 

Preliminary estimates now are that total offshore oil in Greek waters exceeds 22 billion barrels in the Ionian Sea off western Greece and some 4 billion barrels in the northern Aegean Sea. 

The southern Aegean Sea and Cretan Sea are yet to be explored, so the numbers could be significantly higher. 

An earlier Greek National Council for Energy Policy report stated that 'Greece is one of the least explored countries in Europe regarding hydrocarbon (oil and gas-w.e.) potentials.'

According to one Greek analyst, Aristotle Vassilakis, 'surveys already done that have measured the amount of natural gas estimate it to reach some nine trillion dollars.' Even if only a fraction of that is available, it would transform the finances of Greece and the entire region.

Tulane University oil expert David Hynes told an audience in Athens recently that Greece could potentially solve its entire public debt crisis through development of its new-found gas and oil. He conservatively estimates that exploitation of the reserves already discovered could bring the country more than €302 billion over 25 years. 

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Like a lot of sloppily-run outfits, Greece was mismanaged not just on costs but the revenue side as well: plenty of untapped potential outside of the tourist industry, all they got to do is drill baby drill. 

Fact is, the Greeks have already bid out oil rights and negotiated tax packages for new oil exploration on the Hellenic mainland... they're now wasting no time in seeking desperately-needed cash from their vast energy resources.

Soooo therefore we see what looks like their soaring credit-worthiness in Germany's eyes: perhaps someone whispered to the German Chancellor that if they don't think 26B bbls of oil are sufficient collateral for their underwriting Greece's spendthrift habits, teetering welfare state, and eternal tax-collection woes, the Chinese do... and any default where they swoop in and take long-term oil rights wouldn't trouble them one bit. In fact, some in Athens suspect the Germans of planning to do precisely the same. 

And maybe they are... oil is the kind of investment Berlin doesn't mind, but it's hard to come out and say that's what you're looking at when still dealing with the Greeks' ongoing austerity/bailout packages... apparently Merkel feels this will become obvious to the German voter long before she again faces them at the polls.

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Bloomberg   DigitalJournal   Global Research   Financial Times   The Guardian   Balkan Analysis

[Reaganite Republican]

*** PING ***

[EGPWS]

'surveys already done that have measured the amount of natural gas estimate it to reach some nine trillion dollars.' Even if only a fraction of that is available, it would transform the finances of Greece and the entire region.

Greece is savvy enough to just go broke and go down in a fit of riots by p1$$ed off citizens instead of raising the earth's temperature to fever levels.

[Graewoulf]

Duh, my bet is that Greece still hangs on to their Socialist Style Government.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Most of our economic problems are solvable, once we remember it’s OK to tell the Greens to shut up once in a while. :)

[Reaganite Republican]

“Most of our economic problems are solvable, once we remember it’s OK to tell the Greens to shut up once in a while”

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The Left can’t have it both ways -’green’ government-financed experiments AND A lively economy with growing tax revenue base... and we on the Right need to make that conflict of logic known

[Mad Dawgg]

"The Left can’t have it both ways -’green’ government-financed experiments AND A lively economy with growing tax revenue base... and we on the Right need to make that conflict of logic known..."

A.K.A. Guns and Butter.

[fella]

“A.K.A. Guns and Butter.”

Hay, it worked for LBJ. By taking our Social Security money he was able to have the great successes of the Vietnam War and the War on Poverty that has lead to our currant “Great Society” plus it gave him that much desired second term. Didn't it?

[denydenydeny]

Apparently every single country on earth is allowed to develop its own energy resources except one.

See, liberals DO believe in American exceptionalism!

[PowderMonkey]

"Alas, Turkey (and Syria) can also lay claim the deposits, and this complicates the situation somewhat: they and the Greeks basically hate each other..."

"I drink your milkshake!"

[muawiyah]

Not quite. Most people were aghast when he mixed Social Security's budget into the General Ledger Accounts ~ what that did was put your ordinary taxpayer ON THE HOOK for future Social Security payments.

LBJ won the 1964 election on a combination of sympathy votes, and by paying close attention to what Barry Goldwater was saying in terms of political theory.

At that time it was commonly believed that American political thought was laid out on a normal curve with a few over at the Left and a few at the Right, and in between there was a broad middle ground where candidates of the two major parties could contend for the undecided or the independents.

What Goldwater said was there was NO MIDDLE, and it wasn't one curve but two, and two tails of a miniscule number of voters met in the middle, so going after the middle was elementally stupid.

LBJ realized after many years in politics that Goldwater was right, so he went after Democrats by pushing registration and more get out the vote operations, and he went after the residual 30% of the black vote that the Republicans still had ~ went after ALL of them ~ and he got 97%.

BTW, Goldwater provided LBJ the winning edge by giving away his political theory secret.

Next politician up was Nixon. He'd lost to Kennedy, the more Conservative of the two, but he firmly believed in going after that broad middle. After LBJ's victory, he didn't believe that anymore ~ he also became far less Liberal ~ began sounding like JFK to tell you the truth.

He crushed The Humph. Then, he crushed McGovern.

Next guy up, Carter and he went after a whole Republican faction ~ the "born again" crowd, and got 'em (for one time). Next guy up was Ronaldus Magnus and he won two sweeping victories following the LBJ permutation of Goldwater's theory.

And so it goes.

Placing your political faith in the basest sort of greed on the part of the voters just isn't how it's done. They'll sell their souls for far less than anything you can buy with money, and for most folks they'll vote against you for suggesting they'll take money ~ happened to George McGovern ~ lost it all. And, he was crushed by a guy (Nixon) who used "Lawn Order".

Concerning this election,after Mitt had his boyhood home turned into tillage for the new city dump I thought there might be some sort of conflict between himself and his father. More recently he said something that I know means he BELIEVED in his father's implicit correctness in political matters.

What Mitt did was refer to the 5 to 10% of independents and undecideds in the middle. BING BING BING. George Romney actually walked out of the Republican convention back in 1966 rather than support Barry Goldwater ~ and all along I thought that was over Goldwater's patriotism and national defense postures. Now I see it was because George thought Goldwater had a LOSING STRATEGY.

Guess George never gave up his belief in that normal curve and passed it on to his kid ~ who still thinks you can win an election with that belief.

Only saving grace this time is that his opponent, Obama also believes in that normal curve, with Democrats having ownership of half of it.

Of course they are both wrong, and the big boys in the DNC who arrange things don't believe that normal curve nonsense either, so they'll be scheduling events such that Obama talks to the audience in tune with him and he will encourage them to come on out and vote for him. Last thing they let him do is try to talk to the 53% ~ because that way lies failure ~ enormous failure too ~

[353FMG]

Dang. I thought that this world was running out of naturally occurring sources of energy and that mankind was doomed to hunker down in a sea of ugly windmills and solar panels.

Will the EU come begging at Athen’s door with a hefty bail-out check?

[Mad Dawgg]

"Hay, it worked for LBJ. By taking our Social Security money he was able to have the great successes of the Vietnam War and the War on Poverty that has lead to our currant “Great Society” plus it gave him that much desired second term. Didn't it?"

Yep, another great liberal success!

[Sawdring]

Just think, peak oil in 2006 was the forcast for the future.

[Sawdring]

Just think, peak oil in 2006 was the forecast for the future.

[bronxville]

“In February 2011, the engineering consultancy Penspen was awarded the basic engineering design contract for the on-shore section of the pipeline from Komotini in to Igoumenitsa, Thesprotia.[5][6]

It is a part of the Interconnector Turkey–Greece–Italy pipeline. Greek gas company DEPA is responsible for the construction of Greek section. The offshore section will be constructed by IGI Poseidon SA, a joint venture between DEPA and Italian Edison S.p.A.[1]”

The opposition jihad isn’t pleased with these events.