NAFTNA INDUSTRIJA SRBIJE (NIS)
https://www.nis.rs/en/
Company Information
According to its website, NIS is one of the largest oil companies in southeast Europe, with 56.15% of shares owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft, 29.87% owned by the Republic of Serbia, and the remaining 13.98% owned by “citizens, employees, former employees and other minority shareholders.”[i]
Contact Information
2100 Novi Sad
Narodnog fronta 12
Serbia
T: 021-481-1111
E-mail: office@nullnis.rs
Call Center (0-24), 08 0000 8888
NIS also has a branch office in Balkanabat, Turkmenistan.
History in Turkmenistan
According to the company website, NIS has been active in Turkmenistan since 1997, conducting oil field service operations. It has partnered with ENI, Dragon Oil, Mitro limited, Calik Enerјi, and Turkmenneft in these past operations.[ii]
At the end of 2009, NIS signed a two-year, $19.5 million contract with Dragon Oil to drill a minimum of seven exploratory wells offshore in Turkmenistan.[iii]
In November 2010, NIS participated for the first time in the International Oil and Gas Exhibition in Turkmenistan.[iv]
In January 2011, NIS announced that it had been awarded a $33 million contract with Turkmenneft. According to the statement, in June 2011, NIS began to develop five oil wells in Turkmenistan: “two 4,800 metres wells in the Akpatlauk oil field, two 3,800m wells in the Ekerem oil field and one 4,500m well in the Keimir oil field, all of which are being developed by state-run Turkmenneft.”[v]The work was scheduled for completion in February 2012.[vi]
According to several articles posted to the NIS website [vii], the companies “Block services” had continued to engage in operations within Turkmenistan into 2013. NIS’ 2013 annual report confirmed the expansion of “the Blocks” services in Turkmenistan through agreements on drilling services. These services are not mentioned in any proceeding annual reports.[viii]
In 2015, an interview with Kirill Kravchenko, Deputy Director General of Gazprom, noted that NIS was planning to pull out of a stake in a “oil field service company” due to growing local demand for NIS services and the “business climate” within Turkmenistan.[ix]
Current Scope of Operations
Despite their 2015 claim of ending operations in Turkmenistan, the 2021 3rd quarter report by NIS indicates that it not only retained its Balakanabat branch, but that the branch is still active. [x]
According to the 2017 annual report [xi], the NIS board of Directors agenda included “winding up the company branch office in Turkmenistan.”
————————————————————————————————————————-
[i] NIS, “Oil industry of Serbia,” http://www.nis.rs/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=171&Itemid=216&lang=en. Original weblink no longer active.
[ii] NIS, “NIS obtained certificates for operations of its services in the European Union,” July 16, 2013, https://www.nis.rs/en/news-archive/nis-obtained-certificates-for-operations-of-its-services-in-the-european-union/. Accessed December 1, 2021.
[iii] NIS, “NIS in the Caspian Sea,” http://www.nis.rs/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=370 percent3Anis-u-kaspijskom-moru&catid=52 percent3Akompanijske-vesti&Itemid=68&lang=en. Original weblink no longer active.
[iv] NIS, “NIS at International oil and gas fair in Turkmenistan,” http://www.nis.rs/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=536 percent3Anis-na-medunarodnom-sajmu-nafte-i-gasa-u-turkmenistanu&catid=52 percent3Akompanijske-vesti&Itemid=68&lang=en. Original weblink no longer active.
[v] BMI Emerging Europe Oil and Gas Insights, “NIS Secures Modest Oil Drilling Deal,” January 1, 2011, http://www.pennenergy.com/index/articles/newsdisplay/1339170216.html. Original weblink no longer active.
[vi] Gordana Filipovic, “Serbia’s NIS Wins $33 Million Turkmen Oil Well Drilling Contract,” Bloomberg, January 12, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-12/serbia-s-nis-wins-33-million-turkmen-oil-well-drilling-contract.html. Accessed February 18, 2022.
[vii] NIS, “Gazprom Energoholding and NIS Signed the Memorandum on the Construction of Steam-Gas Thermal Plant in Pančevo,” September 25, 2013, https://www.nis.rs/en/news-archive/gazprom-energoholding-and-nis-signed-the-memorandum-on-the-construction-of-steam-gas-thermal-plant-in-pancevo/. Accessed December 1, 2021.
[viii] NIS, “2013 Annual Report,” http://ir.nis.eu/fileadmin/template/nis/pdf/Reporting/BusinessReports/English/NIS_AR_2013_eng.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2021.
[ix] NIS, “Kirill Kravchenko interview to Izvestia,” September 21, 2015, https://www.nis.rs/en/news-archive/kirill-kravchenko-interview-to-izvestia/. Accessed December 1, 2021.
[x] NIS, “QUARTERLY REPORT FOR THIRD QUARTER OF 2021,” http://ir.nis.eu/fileadmin/template/nis/pdf/Reporting/BusinessReports/English/QR_Q3_2021_eng_final_with_signature.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2021.
[xi] NIS, “2017 Annual Report,” http://ir.nis.eu/fileadmin/template/nis/pdf/Reporting/BusinessReports/English/NIS_AR_2017_eng.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2021.