SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), October 20 (SeeNews) – The government of Bosnia's Federation said on Thursday it set up an advisory body tasked with looking into opportunities for oil and gas exploration on the entity's territory.
The panel brings together experts from various fields who will advise the Federation government on oil industry, oil exploitation and concessions, and will make related recommendations.
The Federation earlier committed itself to carrying out activities aimed at attracting long-term investment into the entity’s oil and gas potential.
In September last year, Shell Exploration Company exited an earlier initiative to conduct geological and geophysical research to determine the entity’s oil and gas prospects. Shell said at the time that following an internal portfolio review and in light of the oil and gas environment, it woud not seek to extend its deal with the Federation. The pact was extended in 2013 and 2014 to enable the parties to potentially negotiate a petroleum production licence but such negotiations never started and the deal expired on November 4.
According to estimates by the geology institute of Bosnia’s Federation, the territory of the Dinaric Alps could potentially contain deposits of about 1 billion barrels of oil.
The Federation is one of the two autonomous entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.