Why Balkans Petroleum and why now?
Hi all,
I'm sure many of you know my personal and professional commitment to attracting oil and gas investment towards the yet-so-underexplored region of Balkans. I'll be writing a series of blogposts to give more insight and share thoughts on past, current and future exploration events and anecdotes. You can find more about Balkans Petroleum here.
Five years ago, Sonia (in-VR’s Business Director) and I worked together (in a completely different organisation at that time) on the most important project of our lives having one mission in mind- revive Balkans’ hydrocarbon industry.
It happened amidst the grand exploration boost, where contracts were being signed in Cyprus, Israel and the Black Sea. Having an offline in-depth conversation with one of the world’s largest Oil majors around Europe’s hidden hydrocarbon gems, he recommended Western Balkans.
The feedback we received from personal connections was clear: Balkans had received very little interest from IOCs, regional companies were struggling, and relevant government bodies had either just launched exploration rounds, or were thinking about launching one and needed assistance.
Long story short, Albania, Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina, all came together for the first time ever, and discussed investment opportunities in their countries respectively. They presented on their E&P plans, and Operators were able to demonstrate their current and exploration plans, whilst seismic companies met with their future partners and Ministries with their future investors.
We saw companies forming synergies and closing actual business deals right in front of our eyes; and then Balkans quickly became the “talk of the town” of the industry. If you had an interest in Balkans at that time, we’ve probably met!
Recently we had a call from three separate Balkan Ministries, asking us to host a C-level Balkans networking event. “We recognise the personal effort you’ve put into brining Balkans into the spotlight and we really miss it. How can we help you revive it?” asked Mr D., one of the region’s most prestigious government officials. I gave it a thought overnight, and made some follow-up calls to different friends of various Balkan Governments and international Operators. They all expressed the same opinion; they all felt like we should organise a Balkans petroleum symposium as soon as possible, and we’d have their support in making it happen.
Sonia and I, through In-VR, our newly-established company, we are bringing Balkans back; it makes so much sense, and it’s the region we hold closest to our hearts. We are committed to put Balkans back on the investor’s’ map, and give them the one and only platform to meet future Operators and service providers. We know that it’s going to be tough, but we are there for the long ride.
Save the Date: 6th and 7th September 2017 in Athens, Balkans Petroleum will take place to introduce oil and gas opportunities in one of the world’s most prominent-yet-so-underexplored regions.
You can read the rest of our stories here.