Montenegro is considering storing a portion of its mandatory oil reserves abroad if an agreement cannot be reached to use Jugopetrol’s tanks at the Port of Bar. Potential options under discussion include Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, and Greece, where the government is seeking formal cooperation and host approvals.
State-owned storage at the Bar Terminal remains the preferred option due to its location, capacity, and technical suitability, but it will not be available until the last quarter of next year. Montenegro’s parliament adopted a law on mandatory petroleum product storage late last year to meet EU energy requirements. EU member states are required to maintain 90 days of oil stocks, and Montenegro had initially planned to store most of its reserves domestically.
The EU’s widely used ticketing model allows countries to hold reserves in other member states. Drasko Strikovic, secretary general of the Montenegrin Oil Companies Association, noted that Montenegro could lease storage space abroad, for example in Croatia or Italy, while retaining contractual rights to its volumes. He explained that initial holding costs are lower than building physical stocks, which requires purchasing the fuel outright and periodically renewing it to meet seasonal specifications.
Although the state-owned tanks at the Port of Bar are intended for domestic storage, they are not yet ready for use. Procurement is scheduled for December, and a second tender was launched in early July to refurbish the long-idle tanks, with results expected soon. Once operational, a significant portion of reserves can be stored domestically, while the remainder could be placed with other operators, including facilities in neighboring countries.
Currently, only one operator has functional tanks at the Port of Bar. The Ministry of Energy can inspect all facilities at any time and is legally required to do so twice per year. In the event of a supply emergency, Montenegro would have the right of first withdrawal for its contracted volumes.
