Energean CEO: Israeli tech may bring good news to energy industry

• Published date: 29 May 2023

On Tuesday (tomorrow) the "Globes" Energy 2023 Conference will be held in Tel Aviv in partnership with Energean plc (LSE: ENOG; TASE: ENOG) and Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL). The conference will focus on advancement in a field that is often perceived as outdated, but which is also an innovative arena and acts as a catalyst for economic and regional development. The conference will deal with the development of the energy sector through the promotion of Israeli innovation, and will examine the engines of growth derived from innovative developments in the field and the opportunities inherent in multi-sector collaborations

Ahead of the event Mathios Rigas, the CEO of Energean, which has the concession to the Karish, Tanin and Olympus offshore Israeli gas fields, explained to "Globes" about the good news that the startup nation could bring to the global energy industry, spoke about the competitive arena in Israel, and stresses the advantages produced by the lack of energy sources in Europe.

"The idea of using Israeli technology arose from my conversation with the Halliburton CEO," recounts Rigas. "He told me what they were doing regarding developments in the energy field, and I presented ideas for improvement." Energy giant Halliburton operates an innovation arm, Halliburton Labs, which promotes startups with potential benefits for the global energy industry.

Rigas, who knows Israel well, through his company's operations in discovering and producing natural gas, thinks that the best place to find startups is in Israel. "The aim is to assist Israeli startups in developing ideas."

Zero emissions. How will you do it?

Rigas was born in Greece and studied energy engineering in Athens and an M.Sc. at Imperial College, London. During his time in the UK he worked for an international bank before establishing a fund for Greek startups in Athens. But the fund closed down and he then joined oil company Prinos.

In 2007, Rigas founded Energean after successfully raising $100 million from US investors. In 2019, he announced that the company would adopt a 'zero emissions' policy by 2050. "At the time," says Rigas. "People asked me how will you do this? I told them that I don't know but there is to where we have to go. Within a year of taking the decision, Energean has reduced its carbon emissions by 67%."

Despite that, the external image of the energy industry is of being outdated.

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