At the end of 2019, NIS, which holds 66 % stake in Jadran-Naftagas, submitted to a request to the antimonopoly authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina in which it seeks approval to become the sole owner of the company. Serbian oil company NIS will acquire full control over the company for exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons Jadran-Naftagas.
Jadran-Naftagas was established as a joint venture of NIS and Russian NeftegazInCor in which Serbian company holds 66 % stake and Russian the remaining 34 %. NeftegazInCor, a subsidiary of Zarubezhneft, owns oil refinery in Bosanski Brod, as well as the refinery in Modrica and Nestro Petrol in Banja Luka, all part of Optima Group.
In 2011, company Jadran-Naftagas signed with the relevant Ministry of the Republic of Srpska (RS) a concession agreement for the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas. The concession was obtained for the period of 28 years, three years of research period and 25 years of exploitation. Jadran-Naftagas committed to invest some 229 million dollars in the project, of which 40.7 million dollars is planned for the exploration phase, and the rest will be invested in the exploitation phase in case of proven reserves.
In 2015, NIS announced that it found oil deposits near the village Obudovac in Posavina region. Although the amounts found are significant for RS, for NIS as a company, these amounts are not yet sufficient to start the exploitation of oil.
