Five oil companies are eager to explore for oil and gas in the Adriatic Sea, offshore Croatia.
According to Jutarnji List, a Zagreb-based daily, Croatia’s INA, Austria’s OMV, Italy’s Eni, and UK’s MedOil want to drill for oil and gas in the Adriatic over fifteen exploration blocks.
Concession agreements for offshore drilling are expected to be signed at the end of the first quarter of 2015.
Croatia launched its first ever offshore licensing round in April 2014. According to Jutarnji, the Government will reveal the best bidders on January 2, 2015.
Croatia’s Hydrocarbons Agency has recently reported that 60.5 percent of Croatian citizens are in favor of commercial extraction of oil in the Adriatic, citing a study by Ipsos Puls agency, while 29.6 percent of respondents are against the commercial extraction of oil. 9.9 percent responded that they “do not know”.
Croatia currently has 60 exploitation fields of hydrocarbons (57 onshore and 3 offshore).
Offshore Energy Today Staff