The second tender for the exploration of oil and gas in the Montenegrin seabed is to be announced next year, economy minister Dragica Sekulic said.
“When it comes to future activities, we have certainly not completed this process with the contract we have signed so far. Our plan is to bring more concessionaires into our offshore territory, but this process must be cyclical,” Sekulic said in an interview with Mina-Business news agency.
She said that the exploration of oil and gas in the Montenegrin seabed was developing in accordance with the work programme, which is an integral part of the agreement on exploration and production of hydrocarbons. Companies Eni and Novatek have completed an elaborate on the environmental impact assessment for seismic research for which public hearings were previously conducted,” Sekulic called to mind.
Once the process is completed and after the Environmental Protection Agency issues the necessary license, 3D seismic research will begin.
“Then the collected data re to be processed and interpreting the results will follow. Then, in the second half of the next year, the first exploration drilling will begin,”Sekulic said.
Asked which options are being considered by the Ministry of Economy to accelerate the withdrawal of the Italian A2A from the Electric Power Company of Montenegro (EPCG), Sekulic said that the ministry was in contact with several financial institutions.
She said that the purpose of talks the talks was to find the quickest way of returning A2A’s share package in EPCG to state ownership. The goal is to carry out the return within a time frame shorter than that stipulated in the put option. If a financial institution is hired, it would purchase the shares from A2A on behalf of the state and then the state would be making payments to that institution instead of A2A.
“We are also talking with companies that show they are seriously interested in joining EPCG. This does not mean that we have decided to apply the same form of strategic partnership as with A2A, but it certainly confirms the high value of EPCG among renowned investors,” Sekulic said.
