The licence for the exploration and exploitation at the Drava 2 block area was granted to the INA oil company, Drava 3 to the Oando Plc company from Nigeria while the licence for four block areas -- Drava 4 and Sava 8, 9 and 10 -- was granted to the Vermilion Zagreb Exploration company, founded by the Dutch Vermilion Morocco Exploration and financed by the Canadian Vermilion Energy.
Those who received licences were gained the right to explore hydrocarbons and, should they come across a commercial discovery, they automatically receive concession.
Under these licences, the explorations include geophysical and geological scanning and the interpretation and the processing of the collected data. This also includes drilling, deepening, turning, equipping, examining, temporary abandoning or eliminating exploration wells and the purchase or the procurement of goods, services, material and equipment necessary to perform those jobs.
Deputy Economy Minister Alen Leveric said that the licences granted today were the foundation for the negotiations with oil companies.
The government also sent to parliament a bill on safety during offshore exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons which refers to preventing major accidents during offshore exploration and exploitation of gas and oil.
Leveric said the law prescribes additional supervision over all safety measures which will have to be implemented and about which reports are submitted to the European Commission on a regular basis.
The government also recalled that a total of 51 wells have been drilled in the Croatian part of the Adriatic between 1961 and 2004. During that time, no major accident occurred