The Montenegrin Ministry of Mining, Oil and Gas has announced that the State Hydrocarbons Administration plans to begin the supply of mandatory oil stock reserves in the fourth quarter of 2025, following the completion of upgrades to state-owned oil storage facilities at the port of Bar. The volume of the reserves will depend on available funding and the market price of oil derivatives.
In December, the Ministry launched a tender worth 1.8 million euros to rehabilitate the Bar storage facilities, which have a total capacity of 17,600 cubic meters. Once upgraded, these facilities will be used to store Montenegro’s mandatory oil stock reserves for emergency situations, in compliance with European Union regulations. A new law adopted in November mandates the accumulation and maintenance of oil reserves sufficient to cover three months of domestic and economic demand in the event of supply disruptions. The reserves will consist of 85% eurodiesel and 15% unleaded gasoline to reflect market needs. Montenegro aims to have the reserves fully in place by 2029.
The responsibility for building up these reserves will be shared between the State Hydrocarbons Administration and domestic oil importers handling over 15,000 tons of unleaded gasoline and gas oils annually. Approximately 96% of Montenegro’s oil derivative imports are managed by several local companies, including Jugopetrol (controlled by Greek Helleniq Energy), INA CG (a subsidiary of Croatian INA), Petrol CG (owned by Slovenian Petrol), and HIFA OIL CG (a branch of Bosnian Hifa Oil). Of these, only Jugopetrol currently owns storage facilities in Montenegro.
The Administration will oversee the establishment of at least 50% of the reserves, while the remaining portion will be managed by importers.
To finance the reserves, a fee of 0.03 euros per liter will be added to the retail price of oil derivatives. This fee will remain in place until the reserves are fully established by 2029. After that, the fee will be reduced to 0.02 euros per liter to fund the ongoing maintenance of the reserves.
The Ministry estimates that the annual cost to local citizens and businesses from 2025 to 2028 will be 12.9 million euros, based on a projected annual consumption of 430 million liters of motor fuel, gas oils, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). After 2029, when the reserves are completed, the cost is expected to drop to 8.6 million euros annually.
