International Oil Companies Queue up to View Adriatic Coast Data

Around 20 large international oil companies have so far booked out slots with the Croatian Hydrocarbons Agency to access data compiled by Norwegian seismic imaging services company Spectrum Geo2 for potential oil and gas reserves along Croatia’s Adriatic coast…

Spectrum Geo2  completed 2D seismic surveys of oil and gas reserves along 15,000 kilometres of Croatia’s Adriatic sea last year, and a data room of all results from the seismic imaging has been made available to all interested parties. 50 interested companies in total so far are paying 5,000 EUR a pop for a 2-day slot to analyse the data.

Early next month the Ministry will announce a tender and offer investors 29 sections of the Adriatic to explore and exploit. The Ministry of Economy estimates that earnings from the exploration for the state will be ten times higher than originally forecast, with up to 3.8 billion kuna (500 million EUR) annually predicted under the new model. The decision however has been met with opposition in Croatia. Clean Adriatic Sea Alliance (CASA), a united group of citizens for preservation of the Adriatic Sea, are opposed to oil drilling in the Adriatic and have launched a Facebook group to gather support both within Croatia and internationally for the preservation of one of the world’s most beautiful bodies of water, the Adriatic Sea. With tourism a massive part of Croatia’s GDP, debate will continue to rage on as drilling becomes closer to reality on the Croatian coast.