Croatia’s first offshore license round opens
Croatia’s Minister of Economy Ivan Vrdoljak has opened Croatia’s first offshore license round in Zagreb, Croatia, in the presence of representatives from more than 30 international oil and gas companies and many oil industry experts and dignitaries.
The offshore license round comprises a total area of 36,823 sq km divided into 29 blocks with all 29 blocks available in the license round. The fiscal terms are based on a production sharing agreement model with a 5-year exploration phase and a 25-year production phase. Bids are due on 3 November.
“Croatia has offshore production, however, more importantly (Croatia) remains highly underexplored and presents excellent potential for substantial oil and gas discoveries,” Mr Vrdoljak stated. “Over the past year, we took the necessary steps to establish the hydrocarbon regulatory and fiscal framework, plus streamlined bureaucracy and removed obstacles to investment so that oil industry investors can now focus on exploration and production of hydrocarbons.”
“We are continuing with our outreach to oil and gas companies by hosting a Croatia Road Show next week at the Houston AAPG convention,” said Barbara Dorić, acting President of the Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency. “Our offshore data room is open, and we are working to open our onshore data room in the near future for an upcoming onshore license round.”
The Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency is responsible on behalf of the relevant governmental ministries and institutions for the exploration and exploitation of onshore and offshore hydrocarbons and storage of natural gas in the Republic of Croatia.
