Oil and Gas Exploration Plan for FBiH from 2014 to 2023 Adopted

The FBiH Government today adopted the Program for Regional Exploration of Oil, Condensate, and Natural Gas in the Federation of BiH for the period from 2014 to 2023 as a development document for the exploration of prospective oil and gas areas in the territory of FBiH, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining, and Industry and the Federal Institute of Geology are tasked with preparing an Action Plan for the implementation of the exploration program for the Dinarides territory within 30 days. They are also obliged, in accordance with the Law on Exploration and Exploitation of Oil and Gas in FBiH, to carry out preparatory actions for the initiation and implementation of the oil and gas exploration program in the territory of northern Bosnia.

The Government has tasked the Federal Ministries of Environment and Tourism, Finance, Labour and Social Policy, Spatial Planning, and the Federal Civil Protection Administration to, within 30 days, complete all preparations within their jurisdiction related to the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas, as well as to analyze adopted policies and conduct comparative analyses with the policies of countries with good practices in this field of exploration.

As is known, the Strategic Plan and Program for the Development of the Energy Sector of FBiH, adopted in 2009, emphasized the importance and impact of oil and natural gas on the overall economic and social development of BiH. In order to further develop the energy sector, a recommendation was given to continue oil and gas exploration based on the favorable results of previously conducted research. In this context, the Program for Regional Exploration of Oil, Condensate, and Natural Gas in the Federation of BiH for the period from 2014 to 2023 represents the Government's basic strategic program for defining exploration blocks and awarding concessions.

The main goal of the exploration is to definitively clarify the question of the existence of economically interesting oil and gas deposits, and to make a significant contribution to the knowledge of the geological composition and structure of the crust in the exploration areas.

Based on the exploration results, it is assumed that there are prospective areas for oil and gas exploration in northern Bosnia (Orašje, Odžak, and the Tuzla Basin), central Bosnia (Sarajevo-Zenica Basin), and southwestern and southern Bosnia and Herzegovina (Velika Kladuša-Glamoč-Drežnica-Stolac-Neum). These exploration areas are delineated to fit into two separate oil and gas exploration projects: the Dinarides Project (Velika Kladuša-Glamoč-Drežnica-Stolac-Neum and the Sarajevo-Zenica Basin) and the Northern Bosnia Project.