Russians and Serbs Hunt for Oil in Bosnia

Russia's Naftegazinkor together with Serbian oil giant NIS have formed a joint venture, Jadran–Naftagas, to search for and possibly exploit oil reserves in the Bosnian Serb entity.

Director Predrag Radanovic says the company plans to invest $13 to 47 million in the first phase of geological researches, while the capital investment may later range from $63 to 315 million, depending on the results of the research.

"We have no doubts about the mineral resources and hydrocarbons that can be found here. It is about finding out the real amounts or reserves of oil," Serbia's Mining and Energy Minister, Petar Skundric, said in Banja Luka.

The research, the minister said, would show whether it will be economically viable to start actual exploitation of the alleged oil deposits.

Research into possible oil reserves in Bosnia and Herzegovina started in the early 20th century and again after the Second World War but then stopped. The hunt resumed with American and British partners in 1990 but the 1992-95 war in Bosnia once again halted matters.

Bosnian experts claim that huge deposits of oil may lie underground in the north, but also in the south, deep under the Dinaric mountains, although proper research will require expensive and highly sophisticated equipment.

The Russian company has been present in Bosnia since 2007 when it bought the Bosnian oil refinery in Bosanski Brod, in the north of the country.