There is no oil in the Eni and Novatek wells

The production of hydrocarbons in the field drilled by the consortium of companies Eni and Novatek in the Montenegrin sea will not be possible, because the well is dry, according to the information of the concessionaire, announced the State Secretary for Energy and Mining in the Ministry of Capital Investments, Marko Perunović.

Perunović said that the concessionaires have reached the end of the well and sent the collected samples to Milan, but that the report is not ready yet.

"The official report from them did not arrive, but we had a presentation, where their management definitely told us that porosity and permeability are the basic characteristics of the deposit, that they are very unfavorable and that they are not what they, and we, expected. They consider that well the so-called dry hole," Perunović said at the Open Day event held for journalists.

As for production from that well, as he said, it is not possible.

"Eni and Novatek will work on the development of that deposit and look at the migration path of those hydrocarbons." We will see if we can use these data and analyzes in order to see in the future whether what we were looking for exists in another locality," explained Perunović.

The consortium of companies Eni and Novatek started the first exploratory oil drilling in the Montenegrin sea in March last year.

In December, the government approved the extension of the first exploration period of the hydrocarbon production concession contract by six months, due to difficulties of an operational and geological nature encountered during the drilling process.

Perunović said that the Eni and Novatek consortium had completed the cementing part of the well itself and had slowly started preparing for the demobilization of the drilling facility.

"The concessionaire is obliged to deliver the final results to us within the next six months. What will they be like, let's not be too pessimistic, but I think that as far as the well that was worked on is concerned, they will not be good in terms of potential production", specified Perunović.

The consortium Eni and Novatek should now submit the work plan they completed on that well. After an audit of whether everything was done according to plan and program, the bank guarantee of 73 million euros, which is in the safe of the Ministry of Economic Development, will be returned to him.

"When he finishes the first phase, he is contractually obligated to enter the second, where he will have to deposit a bank guarantee worth 12 million euros, which he should use to drill a second, shallower gas well, 1,5 thousand meters long," Perunovic said.

The Ministry does not yet have information on whether the concessionaire will drill that well or not.

The second exploration of the Montenegrin seabed was also commissioned by the company Energean in blocks 26 and 30.

Perunović said that they should inform the Ministry by March 15 whether they have found a partner for exploratory drilling.

"They are optimistic that significant volumes of gas could be found on their block," Perunović added.

When asked when prices will stabilize on oil markets, and thus fuel prices in Montenegro, Perunović replied that the Ministry of Capital Investments does not have any mechanism to lower prices for consumers.

"As far as price stabilization is concerned, I believe that prices will remain at this level for some time, or even rise," Perunović said.

The Minister of Capital Investments, Mladen Bojanić, answering the question regarding the concession for airports, said that this story is still on stand by.

He added that this Wednesday they were supposed to meet with representatives of parliamentary clubs in the Assembly, but that meeting was postponed due to the current political situation.

"Unfortunately, this is taking a long time and now we are still in an intermediate phase. We still don't have a final decision on whether to continue, that is, to the second phase, or start all over again. "However, the Government can make a decision without the Assembly, but we thought it would be much better if we reached a consensus on this important issue with the parliamentary majority," said Bojanic.

When asked whether the national airline Air Montenegro received any more money after its establishment, and whether it counts as state aid, Bojanic replied that the company received 30 million euros of founding capital and not a cent more.

"I don't know where this information comes from that keeps repeating that he got some more money. He didn't get it. He received founding capital of 30 million in several tranches. All 30 million have been paid, but nothing beyond that has been paid," claims Bojanić.

Commenting on the possibility that Montenegro Airlines (MA) will receive money in bankruptcy, Bojanić said that there is nothing to it.

"Even if we want to give money to the bankrupt company, now that we have another one, I don't think it's out of the question," said Bojanic.

Representatives of the Ministry reiterated that from the beginning they were looking for ways to help former MA employees.

A draft law was prepared, but it was announced that, because the bankruptcy was not fully implemented, it is not possible to legally regulate the provision of subsidies and assistance.

The Ministry of Capital Investments sent an initiative to the Ministry of Finance to give some financial resources to the employees of MA. The request is that it be for the seven months for which they did not receive any salary and that it be in the amount of EUR 550. They expect an answer in the coming period.

When asked what kind of business results Elektroprivreda (EPCG), Montenegrin Elektrodistributivni System (CEDIS) and Rudnik Uljja achieved last year, and whether there were new hires in those companies, Bojanic said that there is no such data now.

"Within the Ministry, we have a special Department for the improvement of corporate governance, and they keep records of it. As for the results of these three companies, I cannot give a full answer. The year has passed, the final financial reports are made and it goes to the Department. As soon as the Department receives the complete reports, we will announce it," said Bojanic.

Regarding the number of employees, he reiterated that he is not happy when he sees that companies are hiring, but revenues are not growing at the same rate as the number of employees.

"There were objections from them that our data were not correct. They are correct, because they were obtained from them," said Bojanic.

The representatives of the Ministry announced that they expect May to be the deadline when the highway could be put into traffic, as well as that the ecological reconstruction project of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant (TE) should start at the beginning of April.

Also, it was announced that work is being done on conceptual projects for the next two sections of the highway.