Socioeconomic and environmental impact of exploitation of hydrocarbons in maritime areas: A case of Greece

The exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in a maritime area have considerable social, economic and environmental impact. Despite the relevance of the topic, accurate analyses on the exact social and environmental impact of the extraction of hydrocarbons are sparse. Companies-shareholders are mainly concerned about the profit deriving from such kind of activities, while national leaders are mainly concerned about their national constituencies, since they preside over national economies and pursue national interests. On the other side, NGO’s are mainly focused on the downsides of natural resources development. Taking into account some characteristic examples of extraction and monetisation of hydrocarbons discovered in maritime areas similar to Greece, the paper tries to identify their impact in the specific circumstances of Greece and to contribute the highly topical discussion about the utility of development of hydrocarbons resources in Greece.