Serbian energy company NIS who, since 2009 has been part of Gazprom, is doing geological prospects in the western part of the country and if the results are positive, they will invest over 500 million euro in production actions and exploitation in the years to come, a high official of Gazprom Neft said. On Friday, a filling station was inaugurated on the Bucuresti Pitesti highway and the plans are to reach 120 units, after investments of over 150 million euro.
The Serbian company NIS studies gas and oil areas in the western part of the country and, depending on the first tests will decide if the upstream sector will be continued.
‘Everything depends on the geological results. If they are positive, and this will be found out at the end of the year or the beginning of 2014, the total investments will be of 500 million euro on the upstream sector’ Kiril Kravchenko, deputy CEO Foreign Asset Management, Gazprom Neft.
Gazprom is present and in the retail sector through the Serbian group NIS and on Friday the first filling station on the Bucuresti –Pitesti highway was inaugurated, at half distance between the two cities. At present there are ten filling stations under the brand of Gazprom until the end of the year there will be 50, and the plans are for a total number of 120 filling stations in 2015, the budget being 150 million euro. ‘ What is important is that 85% of the investmnt will be greenfield’ Kiril Kravchenko said in a press conference.
The Serbian NIS company (Naftna Industrija Srbije) has activities and has projects of investments in the energy sector ( oil and gas) through exploitation, production, processing, sale and distribution of oil products.
Gazprom paid in 2009 almost 400 million euro to the authorities in Serbia to become majority shareholder at the Serbian energy company, the Russians having a solid plan of investments which should start at 500 million euro, so that at half decade to reach a billion euro per year. NIS is integrated in Gazprom Neft, the oil division of Gazprom.
The company runs in Romania, Bosnia and Hungary exploitation projects together with international partners and operates filling stations in Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Bosnia.
In the autumn of 2011 the people at Gazprom Neft met the officials of the Romanian government, the Russians announcing they would want to develop a network of 70-80 filling stations in the next four years.
In 2011, the Canadian company East West Petroleum signed an agreement with NISfor the exploitation of four oil blocks in the western part of Romania, in Bihor and Timis counties. According to the agreement NIS was to finance all the works, including the drilling ones, coming to 85% of the commercial rights.
NIS is one of the biggest companies integrated in Southern Eastern Europe. NIS has operations of exploitation, production and oil and gas refineries, as well as sales of oil products.
The main shareholders are Gazprom Neft (56.5%) and the Serbian government (29.88%). The company owns two production units, in Pancevo and Novi Sad, with a total capacity of processing of 7 million tons of oil per year, as well as a unit of production of GPL in Elemir.
NIS produces annually approximately 1,7 million tons of oil equivalent (TOE) of oil and gas.
The retail network of the company includes more than 500 work points : distribution stations, oil warehouses in the Balkan area. Besides Serbia, NIS is present in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkmenistan, Angola, Belgium and Russia.
Source;Serbia Energy