US oil producer Chevron interested in gas exploration in another two blocks off Crete, says Greece

ATHENS, March 26 - Chevron CVX.N has expressed an interest in hydrocarbon exploration off the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, the second such expression for Greek energy by the U.S. oil producer this year, the Greek energy ministry said on Wednesday.

Greece has accepted Chevron's interest for two blocks south of Crete and will soon decide on the coordinates and on launching an international tender for the areas, which border two licensed blocks where an ExxonMobil-led XOM.N consortium has been evaluating seismic data, the energy ministry said.

Chevron's new interest doubles the size of offshore blocks that will be made available for energy exploration to an area stretching 47,000 square kilometres, increasing the possibility of finding "commercially exploitable" reserves in Greek waters.

Greece this year launched a tender for new gas exploration rights at another deep-sea block south of the Peloponnese peninsula following an expression of interest by Chevron. It hoped that a winner would be named by the end of the year.

With abundant sun and wind, the country has scaled up renewables and has pursued more actively domestic resources to cut its reliance on Russian gas as part of a European Union drive to shift away from Russian energy after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Major gas finds off Egypt, which lies south of Crete, have sparked hopes that Greek waters could also contain significant gas reserves.