ExxonMobil VP 'very excited' about potential of drilling off Crete

US energy giant ExxonMobil is set to start looking for natural gas reserves off the coast of western Crete and is optimistic of "future discoveries," the company's vice president of Exploration for Europe, Russia and the Caspian has said.

"Discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean like Zohr, Leviathan [an Israeli natural gas field] and Aphrodite, are certainly very encouraging for this region, and they certainly suggest to us that there is the potential for future discoveries to be made, and that's why we're here exploring," Tristan Aspray said in an interview with the South EU Summit website on Thursday.

"With respect to Greece, ourselves and Hellenic Petroleum and Total have been awarded - subject to final government approval - two very large licenses offshore southwest and western Crete. We're very excited about the potential of this area. It's a huge area that's...