Greece Is Not Poor - It Actually Has Massive Untapped Reserves Of Gold, Oil And Natural Gas

Greece Is Not Poor - It Actually Has Massive Untapped Reserves Of Gold, Oil And Natural Gas







Michael Snyder, Contributor
Activist Post

It turns out that the poster child for the European debt crisis is not
actually poor at all. In fact, the truth is that the nation of Greece
is sitting on absolutely massive untapped reserves of gold, oil and
natural gas. If the Greeks were to fully exploit the natural resources
that are literally right under their feet, they would no longer have
any debt problems.

Fortunately, this recent economic crisis has spurred them to action and
it is now being projected that Greece will be the number one gold
producer in Europe by 2016. In addition, Greece is now opening up
exploration of their massive oil and natural gas deposits. Reportedly,
Greece is sitting on hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and
gigantic natural gas deposits that are worth trillions of dollars.

It is truly sad that Greece should be one of the wealthiest nations in
all of Europe, but instead the country is going through the worst
economic depression that it has experienced in modern history. It is
kind of like a homeless man that sleeps on the streets every night
without realizing that a relative has left him an inheritance worth
millions of dollars. Greece is not poor at all, and hopefully the
people of Greece can learn the truth about all of this wealth and chart
a course out of this current mess.

I have written extensively about the nightmarish economic conditions that Greece is experiencing right now. Just check out this article, this article and this article.
Since the depression began in Greece, the Greek economy has contracted
by more than 20 percent. In April 2010, the unemployment rate in
Greece was only 11.8 percent. Since then it has skyrocketed to 25.1
percent.

The government debt to GDP ratio in Greece is projected to hit 198 percent this year, and there are persistent rumors that Greece will be forced to leave the euro.

But all of this is completely and totally unnecessary. Greece is not
actually poor at all. In fact, after you account for untapped natural
resources, Greece is actually one of the wealthiest nations in all of
Europe.

According to Bloomberg,
there is a massive amount of gold in Greece. This recent economic
crisis has accelerated the approval of mining activity, and it is now
being projected that Greece will soon be the number one gold producing
country in all of Europe...
<blockquote>Gold mining is gathering momentum after Greece began what
it called a 'fast-track' approvals program. The Canadian and Australian
companies said their projects will add about 425,000 ounces by 2016,
worth $757 million at the Oct. 5 spot price, to the 16,000 ounces the
country produced in 2011. </blockquote><blockquote>'There’s clearly
evidence that Greece has woken up to the potential of their mining
industry,' said Jeremy Wrathall, chairman of Perth-based Glory
Resources. 'Politicians increasingly realize that a pro-mining stance
is appropriate due to job creation potential.' </blockquote><blockquote>Greece,
which is also fast-tracking state property sales, is set to overtake
Finland as the continent’s largest gold producer within four years, as
regulators in Athens sign off on mines kept on hold for more than a
decade by red tape and environmental rules.</blockquote>But Greece
doesn't just have gold. Greece is also swimming in oil and natural
gas. It turns out that Greece is sitting on the western edge of an
absolutely mammoth sub-Mediterranean oil and gas field, and there are
also huge deposits of oil and natural gas in the western parts of the
country.

A Reuters article back in July discussed how foreign firms are now rushing to exploit these tremendous resources...
<blockquote>Greece has received eight bids by companies to search for
oil and natural gas in three blocks in the western part of the country,
the energy ministry said on Monday, as debt-laden Athens seeks to save
money on energy imports. </blockquote><blockquote>Greece, which
produces almost no oil or natural gas, aims to develop potential
hydrocarbon reserves as part of an effort to overhaul its economy and
lessen dependence on energy imports.</blockquote>So exactly how much oil and natural gas does Greece have?

The numbers that are being reported so far are staggering. The following comes from a Greek news source...
<blockquote>Until now the offers for hydrocarbon exploration have
concerned three blocks: The first is in the Gulf of Patra, the second
off the coast of Katakolo -- both in Western Greece -- and the third at
Ioannina, northwestern Greece. </blockquote><blockquote>Early estimates
suggest that the Gulf of Patra may have 200 million barrels of crude
oil, and that there are another 80 million at Ioannina and nearly 3
million off the coast of Katokolo. </blockquote><blockquote>Furthermore,
according to the United States Geological Survey, in the sea between
Crete, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt, there are about 15 trillion cubic
meters of natural gas and oil just waiting to be extracted.</blockquote>The
truth is that Greece has enough oil and natural gas to be able to pay
off all of their debts. The value of the natural gas that they are
sitting on alone has been estimated to be worth trillions of dollars. The following is from an article earlier this year by F. William Engdahl...
<blockquote>In December 2010, as it seemed the Greek crisis might still
be resolved without the by-now huge bailouts or privatizations,
Greece’s Energy Ministry formed a special group of experts to research
the prospects for oil and gas in Greek waters. Greece’s Energean Oil
& Gas began increased investment into drilling in the offshore
waters after a successful smaller oil discovery in 2009. Major
geological surveys were made. </blockquote><blockquote>Preliminary
estimates now are that total offshore oil in Greek waters exceeds 22
billion barrels in the Ionian Sea off western Greece and some 4 billion
barrels in the northern Aegean Sea. [1] </blockquote><blockquote>The
southern Aegean Sea and Cretan Sea are yet to be explored, so the
numbers could be significantly higher. An earlier Greek National
Council for Energy Policy report stated that 'Greece is one of the least
explored countries in Europe regarding hydrocarbon (oil and gas-w.e.)
potentials.' [2] According to one Greek analyst, Aristotle Vassilakis,
'surveys already done that have measured the amount of natural gas
estimate it to reach some nine trillion dollars.' [3] Even if only a
fraction of that is available, it would transform the finances of Greece
and the entire region. </blockquote><blockquote>Tulane University oil
expert David Hynes told an audience in Athens recently that Greece
could potentially solve its entire public debt crisis through
development of its new-found gas and oil. He conservatively estimates
that exploitation of the reserves already discovered could bring the
country more than €302 billion over 25 years.</blockquote>So unlike several other nations in Europe, things actually look quite
promising for Greece in the years ahead if they manage their resources
correctly and don't let foreigners come in and steal all of their
wealth.

And perhaps this is why there is such hesitation to boot Greece out of
the EU. It seems probable that many of the top politicians in Europe
know about all of this gold, oil and natural gas that Greece is sitting
on.

Hopefully the people of Greece will learn about this massive amount of
wealth that is just under their feet. If they can figure out a way to
get this wealth to start to flow into the hands of the people of
Greece, a lot of their problems could be solved rather quickly and they
could start to experience a massive economic turnaround.


Source:-
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/10/greece-is-not-poor-it-actually-has.html