Croatia Gets Six Bids for Adriatic Oil and Gas Exploration

Croatia has received six bids in an international tender for oil and gas exploration areas in the Adriatic Sea, Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak said on Monday.

He told reporters the government would choose the best bids by the end of the year and sign concession agreements by the spring 2015. He did not name the bidders, while local media have earlier reported oil majors like Exxon, Shell, Chevron (CVX) and Total as being interested.

Croatia, a European Union member since July last year, said earlier this year it expected investment worth some $2.5 billion over the next five years in exploration activities.

(Reporting by Igor Ilic, writing by Zoran Radosavljevic, editing by David Evans)