By Harry Floodopoulos
A particularly interesting political shift seems to be recorded in Brussels around natural gas and the role of domestic energy resources, on the occasion of the informal meeting of the EU Energy Ministers held in Nicosia. This shift is also of special importance for Greece, at a time when the country is speeding up its own hydrocarbon research programme, aimed at the first drilling within the EU in the coming years.
Although the official agenda of the summit focuses on energy transition, the resilience of the European energy system and the acceleration of the Energy Union, the real political interest is in the gradual return of natural gas to European strategic vocabulary.
According to the preparatory text of the meeting revealed by Reuters, a clear reference is made to the "roll of domestic gas resources" as a tool for price stability and strengthening European Union energy security.
The wording is of particular importance, as for the first time in several years Brussels appears to discuss more openly the use of domestic gas deposits not as a contradiction to the green transition but as an element of strategic resilience towards geopolitical crises and the volatility of international LNG markets.
This change is not unrelated to the new energy crisis triggered by instability in the Middle East, but also to the finding that Europe remains too dependent on imports of natural gas. Despite progress in RES, the EU continues to meet about 80% of its import needs, which makes it vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and sharp price fluctuations.
In this new environment, the Greek hydrocarbon research programme is gaining new weight. Greece is currently in the most mature phase of the research programme for the last decades, with seismic research in Ionian and Crete completed and with international companies active in concessions preparing the next steps.
The most crucial point is that, once the current timetables are met, Greece is expected to become the first European Union country to proceed with a new gas drilling in the next period, with the first drill in the Ionian Sea being placed in time in early 2027.
In this light, the debate opened in Nicosia is of special importance to Athens. For several years, the European political environment has been visibly cautious about any new activity of hydrocarbon research, as the dominant narrative revolved exclusively around coalification and rapid removal from fossil fuels.
Today, without changing the strategic objective of the green transition, a more complex and realistic approach appears to be forming. Energy security, the resilience of economies and the need to limit new dependencies come back to the heart of the debate.
This is exactly what the Greek government is trying to highlight through the rhetoric of "energy realism". Both Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and RIS leadership have repeatedly stressed that the green transition cannot go beyond the needs of energy security and competitiveness of the European economy.
In the same sense is the Greek position that natural gas research is not a return to an outdated energy model, but a tool of strategic autonomy and exploitation of domestic resources in a period of great international uncertainty.
The current situation is particularly favourable to Greece, as the Eastern Mediterranean is returning to European energy interest as a possible source of reliable gas flows to Europe. The role of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum is expected to emerge at the Nicosia summit, as well as the importance of the region in diversifying EU supply sources.
For Athens, the message broadcast by Nicosia is clear: Brussels is now beginning to treat the use of domestic energy resources more positively as part of an overall energy security strategy. And this gives new political impetus to the Greek drilling programme, at a time when the interest in Europe's energy autonomy is dynamically returning to the fore.
