Croatia on Friday offered a public tender for on-shore oil and gas exploration.
Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak officially opened the tender, saying this was the first in a series tenders for six blocks, measuring between 2,100 and 2,600 square kilometers in the Drava and Sava river basins and the Eastern Slavonia region.
The tender will be open until Feb. 18, 2015 and first concessions would be signed by the end of June 2015, Vrdoljak told a press conference in the eastern Croatian city of Osijek.
He expected medium-sized companies would be interested in bidding the tender as there was less need for expertise and medium-sized companies were faster in offering bids and starting work.
There was evidence of oil and gas reserves in continental Croatia, citing over 40 years of production, according to data published earlier.
In April this year, Croatia opened a tender for oil and gas exploration in its part of the Adriatic Sea.