Oil companies Jugopetrol, Ina Montenegro and Petrol Montenegro will be obliged to form oil reserves together with the state this year, and the Ministry of Mining, Oil and Gas will deliver instructions on the quantity and structure of these reserves by the end of March.
This was officially told to "Vijesti" by the department he heads. Admir Šahmanović.
Citizens and businesses will finance a special fee of three cents for the formation of oil reserves through 2028 through the retail price of fuel.
In December last year, the Parliament adopted the Law on Security of Petroleum Supply, which is essential for the closure of Chapter 15 (Energy) and requires the formation of oil reserves. These reserves are formed and maintained for the needs of supply disruptions or emergencies.
In addition to the law, as stated in the Ministry, it is necessary to adopt two regulations relating to the method of calculating and paying the fee for mandatory reserves of petroleum products, and the methodology for calculating the quantity of mandatory reserves of petroleum products, as well as an annual and crisis plan.
The Ministry has prepared regulations and their adoption is planned, as they say, next week, and an amendment to the regulation on the method and amount of elements based on which maximum prices of petroleum products are formed has also been prepared, which, according to the Ministry, has been sent to the Government for adoption.
"The proposed changes relate to the introduction of a fee of three cents per liter of unleaded gasoline 98/95 and Eurodiesel," the Ministry of Petroleum said.
The Ministry explained that, in accordance with the law, they are obliged to submit instructions to importers with the prescribed quantity and structure of petroleum products, which they are obliged to form within 90 days from the date of entry into force of the law for the transitional period, i.e. for the period until June 30, 2025.
"In the period from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, importers are required to form the quantities of mandatory reserves that the Ministry will deliver to them for instruction by March 31, 2025. We note that importers have a deadline of 200 days from the date of delivery of the instruction to form mandatory reserves. The transitional and final provisions of the Law on Security of Supply of Petroleum Products provide for a 90-day deadline for delivering instructions to importers on the obligation to form reserves with a specified quantity and structure calculated based on imports, exports, consumption and the quantity of commercial reserves of petroleum products in 2023 for the period until June 30, 2025, while the substantive provisions of the Law stipulate that instructions be delivered to importers by March 31 of the current year for the obligation they need to fulfill in the period from July 1 of the current year to June 30 of the following year, based on the calculation of imports, exports, consumption and the quantity of commercial and mandatory reserves of petroleum products in the previous calendar year," the Ministry explained.
The transitional and final provisions of the Law on Security of Supply of Petroleum Products provide for a period of 60 days from the date of entry into force of the law for the development of an annual reserve formation plan, the adoption of which requires the entry into force of the rulebook governing the collection of fees due to the precise calculation of reserves that the Hydrocarbons Administration needs to form.
"Of the total obligation of Montenegro, which is at the level of 100.000 tons of petroleum products, it is planned that 50% will be formed by the Hydrocarbons Administration and 50% by importers of petroleum products, with importers who import less than 15.000 tons of gasoline or diesel transferring their obligation to the Hydrocarbons Administration, which means that the Administration will form about 55% of the total obligation, and large importers of petroleum products about 45% of the total prescribed obligation. This year, based on imports for the previous year, the obligation to form mandatory reserves of petroleum products will be Jugopetrol, INA Montenegro and Petrol Montenegro," the Ministry said.
As explained, since importers have a 200-day deadline to form reserves, and since the Administration will fulfill its obligation in accordance with the available funds collected from the fee introduced by the Law and the money from the European Commission's direct budget support for overcoming the energy crisis, it is expected that 2/3 of the total prescribed obligation for Montenegro will be formed by the end of this year.
The Ministry explained that within 60 days of the law coming into force, a Council for Ensuring the Secure Supply of Petroleum Products will be formed, while a deadline of one year from the law coming into force has been set for the development of a crisis plan.
In December last year, the Ministry issued a call for tenders for the adaptation of oil reservoirs in Bar, which are the property of the state-owned company Montenegrobonus. The tender is for the execution of works and supervision of the works, which should last nine months, as previously explained by the Government. The tender is open until February 12th.
The state plans to store oil reserves in the state-owned Montenegrobonus reservoirs in Bar, for the modernization of which it needs to spend 1,5 million euros, out of 7,5 million allocated as a grant from the EU, while the rest of the money will be spent on purchasing oil product reserves.
Eight-day delivery period
The Ministry explained that importers have the option of choosing the form in which they will hold their reserves and the locations for storing mandatory reserves of petroleum products.
"Importers can store reserves in finished goods or in the form of so-called tickets, that is, contracts on the right to purchase the contracted quantity of fuel in a defined period of time with the right to withdraw the goods at any time during the validity period of the contract at locations from which it is possible to deliver the goods within eight days from the date of the decision to release mandatory reserves to the Montenegrin market," the Ministry of Petroleum said.
The Petroleum Administration needs more workers
The Ministry explained that the tasks of purchasing reserves, managing storage capacities, engaging additional storage capacities, operational management of warehouses, quality and quantity control of reserves, and other tasks related to the formation and maintenance of reserves are highly specialized tasks that require training of personnel from the Hydrocarbons Administration and the engagement of additional personnel capacities.
"This is so that we can adequately respond to the obligations arising from the law and bylaws. Bearing in mind that the Administration currently has a total of eight employees, including the head of the body, and that in accordance with the Regulation on the Organization and Mode of Work of the State Administration, it carries out tasks related to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons, it is inevitable to hire several additional employees, so that the work can be carried out in accordance with the prescribed policies," the Ministry said.
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