Contracts between the Greek state and consortium comprised of ExxonMobil (40 percent), Total (40 percent) and Hellenic Petroleum (20 percent) for exploratory drilling west and southwest of Crete will be signed on Thursday.
The signing ceremony will also be attended by incumbent Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, with the event expected to serve as a "photo op" for the poll-trailing SYRIZA party and Tsipras, personally.
The sea regions covered in the contracts are 20.5K square kilometers and 19.8K square kilometers, respectively, with the contracts tendered in 2017.
