by KG/XINHUA Greece is to host the 3rd annual Balkans and the Adriatic Oil and Gas summit in Athens on October 1-3 as part of efforts to join forces for the exploitation of energy resources in the region and attract more investments. During a press conference ahead of the meeting on Tuesday, government officials and industry representatives expressed optimism over the "most promising indications" of hydrocarbon reserves in the region and stressed the necessity of enhanced transborder cooperation in the exploration and production of oil and gas. "Good news in one country also benefit neighbors, since the interest for investments in the field increases," Greek Environment Minister Yannis Maniatis noted, pointing to recent positive developments. Albania which holds Europe's largest field is relicensing oil blocks. Greece is opening new areas of exploration. Montenegro just closed its licensing round and is reviewing proposals offered. Croatia is closing its licensing round in November for offshore blocks and in February for onshore blocks. "The Balkans today are playing an important role in energy corridors," Dorian Ducka, Albanian Deputy Energy and Industry Minister said. The Athens conference which is organized by business intelligence group International Research Networks brings together existing and future operators in the oil and gas industry in Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Italy and Romania. On the industry's part, Neil Hodgson, Director of Geoscience Spectrum ASA which has acquired seismic data for Croatian and Greek blocks, stressed that the Balkans is a very interesting region for companies at the moment, since the advancement of technology allows the effective exploration and exploitation of reserves in the region. George Alexopoulos, General Manager for Hellenic Petroleum's Strategic Planning and Development as well as Mark Hodgson, Business and Development Vice President and Deputy General Director from Bankers Petroleum, the largest foreign investor in Albania in recent years, added that of critical importance to investors is also the business friendly environment with fiscal consistency and regulatory transparency.
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