Oil and Gas Exploitation in Croatia Put on Hold

Two state projects to explore and exploit gas and oil in Croatia are on hold until the new government prepares everything for the signing of contracts with foreign companies.

Croatia's Hydrocarbons Agency, CHA, said the energy projects are "on hold" indefinitely until then. "It takes time to implement the procedures that precede the signing. At the moment we have no concrete information on when [they] will be [implemented]," Zeljka Rukavina, spokesperson for CHA, told BIRN.

She added that the CHA is in daily contact with all the chosen companies, informing them about the delays. She assured that Croatia does not face financial penalties for the delays.

Croatia's new centre-right government was sworn in in late January and the post of Minister of Economy was taken by Tomislav Panenic, member of the "kingmaker" party in the new ruling coalition, the Bridge of the Independent Lists, MOST.

The former centre-left government launched the first tender for gas and oil exploration and exploitation in the Adriatic Sea in April 2014.

Companies were then offered 29 exploration plots of between 1,000 and 1,600 square kilometres along the coastline.

The winning companies would obtain the right to explore the slots for three years, followed by a possible two-year extension for both exploration and exploitation and, in the end, a possible 25-year full concession.

After reviewing the bidders, a body led by the then Economy Minister, Ivan Vrdoljak, in January 2015 chose five companies and consortiums for exploration and exploitation.

These were the Croatian-Hungarian company INA, US Marathon Oil, Italy's ENI, Medoilgas of Italy and the Austrian company OMV.

Although the contracts for starting exploration and exploration with the...