INA's Experience in Hydrocarbon Exploration in Croatia

INA d.d. has carried out systematic hydrocarbon exploration in Croatia since 1952. In the last 62 years it resulted in the discovery of 57 onshore oil and gas fields and 17 offshore gas fields, i.e. 1.4 billion boe of hydrocarbon reserves of which 1.2 billion boe was recovered. The Pannonian Basin can be considered a relatively well explored area where remaining potential should be looked for in unconventional reservoirs and in more complex smaller conventional reservoirs. The Dinarides are still underexplored and considering a number of open professional issues and the demanding terrain, this area is evaluated as being highly risky for further investments; therefore exploration risk sharing with potential partners is how we look at the future exploration activity in this area. In North Adriatic good results were achieved in the exploration of gas reservoirs. Production of gas from this area dates to 1999 and today accounts for a substantial percentage of total domestic gas production, approximately 50%. Exploration of the Central and South Adriatic was less successful compared with the Northern part and the 1st phase of the search for oil ended in the late eighties of the 20th century. Exploration of these areas gained a new momentum with the new seismic acquired by INA in 2011/2012. These data enabled a breakthrough in the traditional understanding of main characteristics of the petroleum system and INA was ready for the 1st offshore licensing round announced by the Croatian Ministry of Economy in April 2014. Considering that from the end of the nineties of the 20th century until the end of the first decade of the 21st century the company's exploration strategy was focused on exploration and production from the North Adriatic, Syria and several African countries, in this period exploration of remaining domestic areas was rather modest. This trend changed in 2009 when INA commenced a new exploration cycle in Croatia intensifying activities in the Pannonian Basin which resulted in several smaller oil and gas discoveries. Selec, Hrastilnica and \eletovci Zapad are the most successful among them. There is also a current issue of unconventional exploration applying the North American experience. A pilot project of unconventional exploration was undertaken at the end of 2013 continuing into 2014 and beyond. Today one of the main strategic directions of the company is organic growth, i.e. exploration led growth. In this respect, consolidation of domestic exploration portfolio has a significant role. In the new circumstances when Croatian hydrocarbon market is opening and legislation in the field of exploration and production has recently undergone changes we see an opportunity to independently or in partnership with other interested oil companies demonstrate commitment to exploration of these areas and get a chance to pursue new visions, using modern, safe and clean technologies.