Eni, Novatek kick off Montenegrin drilling
Italy's Eni and Russia's Novatek have begun drilling their first well offshore Montenegro, the country's ministry of capital investments said on March 25.
The well is situated 26 km offshore and will be drilled to a total depth of 6,525 m by the Topaz Driller, which arrived in Montenegro earlier this month. Drilling work is expected to run for between four and a half to six months, depending on results. In the event of a discovery, production could start in four to six years, the ministry said.
Montenegro does not produce any oil or gas, relying mostly on imports of motor fuel from Greece and Serbia and natural gas from Russia. Eni and Novatek won rights to offshore blocks 4118-4, 4118-5, 4118-9 and 4118-10 spanning 1,200 km2 in a tender held in 2014. They signed a 30-year concession agreement two years later but repeatedly postponed their drilling plans, as a result of low oil prices and permitting delays.
A further two blocks off Montenegro are operated by Mediterranean-focused Energean.
Novatek, whose business is almost all in Western Siberia, has made several attempts to secure projects abroad, with limited success. It won 50% of a concession agreement for an offshore block in Egypt in 2007, but withdrew after five years after reporting a dry well. The firm also placed an unsuccessful bid for a block off the coast of Cyprus in 2012.
In 2018, though, Novatek signed exploration and production agreements with Lebanon's government to explore two offshore blocks. It is partnered at the projects with Eni and France's Total.