A private Greek firm has discovered new oil deposits in the northern Aegean seabed off the island of Thassos, according to local media reports. The Kathimerini newspaper said Kavala Oil SA, which obtained exploitation rights for the state Prinos oilfields in 1999, found two separate oil deposits at a depth of 2800–2900m during drilling 4.5 miles NW of Thassos. Its chairman, Nikolaos Loutsigas, told the daily initial testing showed one field able to produce a steady flow of oil with a 7% hydrogen sulphide content. The second deposit was found to be more difficult to exploit because of surrounding rock formations. Samples from both have been sent for testing to laboratories abroad and to the University of Crete. Kavala Oil officials were not in a position to estimate the potential daily yield of the new oil deposits, Kathimerini reported. Kavala Oil has a five-year contract to operate in the Prinos fields with an option for another five years if new deposits are found, on condition that it sells the oil to state refinery group Hellenic Petroleum. Current daily oil output at Prinos is around 7000–7500 barrels.
