The gas fields in the Croatian Adriatic are very important for the independence of the national energy system, and a programme for the development of existing gas fields is one of INA's biggest investment projects, potentially worth around HRK 1.5 billion, it was said on Wednesday.

In a statement issued to mark the 22 billion cubic metres of natural gas produced in the Adriatic, INA said that it had been mining natural gas in the Adriatic since October 1999, with its exploration and production sector celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

On that occasion, representatives of INA’s management, led by Management Board chairman Péter Ratatics, visited crew on the Ivana A platform, 36 kilometres off the coast.

INA executives also visited the gas drilling platform Labin of INA Group member Crosco, which was hired in late August for projects INA currently conducts in the gas fields in the Adriatic.

INA recalls having launched in 2019 a programme designed to define all potential locations for new drillings in the northern Adriatic in order to stop the natural decline in production in all three fields it operates – North Adriatic, Marica and Izabela.

The programme was launched so that the company could continue producing gas in the Adriatic in the years to come and reverse the anticipated production trends which are due to field age.

The company started the implementation of individual projects in September 2020, when the gas well Irena 2 was drilled, as the first of 11 potential wells to be drilled as part of that programme.

So far, five new gas wells have been drilled, with Ika B-1R-DIR and MARICA-D-DIR having been put into operation. In March production started at the Ika B-1R-DIR well, and its annual output will be around 40 million cubic metres, which is currently close to 7% of INA’s gas production at sea and on land, the company said.

Production at the new well MARICA D started in May, and its annual output is expected to be 11.5 million cubic metres. The other wells, Irena-2, Ilena-2 VER and Ida D-1 VER potentially require the construction of new platforms, on which a decision will be made once the programme is fully implemented in the coming years, INA said.

The programme for the development of existing gas fields in the Adriatic is one of INA’s biggest investment projects and potential investments amount to some HRK 1.5 billion. The campaign to drill new wells and potentially build new platforms offers us the opportunity to provide the Croatian market and our customers with new quantities of gas, which will have a positive effect on supply security and the overall economy. Projects as successful as these bear witness to the importance of strategic and responsible management of resources to enable economic development and increase the share of domestic production, said Ratatics.

INA’s director for exploration and production, Nikola Mišetić, said that locations for new wells had been defined, and that at two of those locations gas would be mined from existing platforms while nine wells are on new locations where there are no existing platforms and would be drilled on the high seas.