Greece wants control of an Aegean oil consortium.

The Socialist government will push legislation giving it a controlling interest in the joint U.S., Canadian and West German oil and gas consortium operating in the northern Aegean Sea. The surprise decision comes as Greece is seeking to attract more foreign investments. “This decision is exclusively dictated by the national importance of the north Aegean oil fields,” Industry and Energy Minister Sakis Peponis said. He described as “colonial” the drilling and exploitation contract signed between the North Aegean Petroleum Co. and Constantine Caramanlis’ administration in 1975. If the firm refuses to sell enough shares to give Greece control, the government can “expropriate them.”