October 3 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's Federation will open by the end of 2019 a planned tender for oil and gas exploration and exploitation on locations in the Panonian basin and the Dinarides, the Federation's energy minister Nermin Dzidic said.
"The public invitation will be published by the end of the year," Dzidic told state broadcaster BHRT earlier this week in Sarajevo, on the sidelines of an event promoting the planned tender to interested investors. A video file with his speech was uploaded on BHRT's YouTube channel.
Dzidic said that the tender should be completed by February 20 and the name of the winning company will be officially announced at the end of February or in early March.
The Federation is preparing the tender and all activities related to it together with London-based IHS Global, which it hired in February for consultancy services on the job.
Last month, the energy ministry said it is launching a roadshow to promote its oil and gas tender plans, inviting interested parties to meetings on October 1 in Sarajevo and on October 9 in London.
The Federation is offering to interested investors to search for hydrocarbon deposits in three blocks in the Panoninan basin (BiHPo1, BiHPo2 and BiHTz) and one block in the area of the Dinaric Alps (BiHD1).
In September 2015, Shell Exploration Company exited an earlier initiative to conduct geological and geophysical research to determine the oil and gas prospects of the Federation.
After Shell's withdrawal, several international companies, including France's Total, Australia's Key Petroleum and UK's Spectrum showed interest in the project, according to earlier media reports.
The Federation is one of two autonomous entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.