The Greek government will launch tender procedures for oil exploration contracts in the Ionian Sea and southern Crete in 2012, after completion of seismic research in these regions, Environment, Energy and Climate Change Deputy Minister Yiannis Maniatis told a Mediterranean conference on oil and natural gas on Monday.

The Greek minister also left the door open for possible synergies between the natural gas pipelines of Turkey-Greece-Italy and TAP (Turkey-Greece-Albania-Italy), while he mentioned the role of Russia in ensuring energy supplies for Europe, in the aftermath of a crisis in North African countries.ana-mpa

Maniatis said procedures to set up a public agency, which will take over the management of state rights in exploration and exploitation of oil and natural gas fields, were under way, while he noted that the government was modernizing the country's institutional framework on exploration, based on the Norwegian framework.