Marathon Oil and OMV were granted oil exploration licenses after international tender. These two energy companies are the big winners as Croatia’s government awarded 10 licenses for offshore oil exploration and drilling in the Adriatic Sea in its first round of bidding.
The government sees total investments by the groups during the five-year-long exploration phase totaling $630M.
With estimated crude and gas reserves of as much as 3B boe in Croatian waters in the Mediterranean – among the highest mix of underwater energy deposits in the European Union – the government hopes potential deposits worth billions of dollars may turn the tourism-centered economy into a regional energy heavyweight.
