Serbia also wants gas via Bar, Montenegro - How much would a new supply route cost?

Montenegro intends to build an LNG terminal in the Port of Bar. In May, the government of that country signed a memorandum with U.S. partners on its construction, and Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic then called on all the countries of the region to unite in the construction of the gas pipeline. After a recent meeting with the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic in Belgrade, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated that Serbia is interested in the port of Bar being a new alternative route for gas supply to Serbia, in addition to the terminal in the Greek port of Alexandroupolis.

- Serbia is interested in buying part of the liquefied gas, and we are ready to immediately direct the steel pipes to the measuring station, which would be located in Bijelo Polje, in order to connect and receive gas, around 2.7 million cubic meters daily, which would significantly help us in further security of supply and diversification - specified Vucic at the time.

Energy expert from Montenegro Predrag Drecun believes that both Montenegro and Serbia would benefit from this investment. He states that Serbia is largely dependent on gas and states that the Port of Bar is the closest to it, and therefore a logical source of supply. On the other hand, the energy expert from Serbia, Milos Zdravkovic, states that the project could be profitable while the war in Ukraine continues, but that the gas pipeline would cost significantly more because the mountainous terrain in Montenegro is also inaccessible.


Where would the gas come to Bar from and who would be the main user?

When asked whose liquefied petroleum gas would be delivered to Port Bar, Drecun stated that he was not aware of it at the moment, but that as soon as American investors are interested, it would be logical for them to be American companies.

- We see that the Americans and the French build the most LNG terminals. They know where the future is, they always look two or three steps ahead - Drecun said.

Zdravkovic says that the announcements from Montenegro about the construction of an LNG terminal are very serious and that it could be a very useful job for the state of Montenegro, but he is afraid that the only potential user of such an infrastructure would be Serbia.

- Due to the configuration of the terrain, due to the population of Montenegro, considering that 80% of its population lives in Podgorica and on the coast, they do not need gasification for those reasons. Montenegro does not have any industry, the only potential consumer would be the Aluminijumski kombinat (KAP) in Podgorica, but it is no longer the giant it used to be in the former Yugoslavia. They could probably find the need, i.e. the model to build something for their needs, in substituting the production of electricity from coal coming from their Pljevlja TPP. Their plan was to abandon coal by 2020, and they would thereby lose over 40% of their own electricity sources - said Zdravkovic.

Vlada Crne Gore

Luka Bar a.d. Crna Gora

Termoelektrana Pljevlja

Kombinat aluminijuma Podgorica Kap

Government of Montenegro

Directorate for Oil and Gas of Montenegro

Port of Bar

Enerflex Energy Systems Inc

Wethington Energy Innovation LLC

Aluminijumski kombinat

KAP

TE Pljevlja

Dritan Abazovic

Jakov Milatovic

Aleksandar Vucic

Predrag Drecun

Milos Zdravkovic

Zorana Sekulic

port of Durrës

port of Alexandropoulos

construction of LNG terminal in Port of Bar

purchase of liquefied gas from Port of Bar

construction of gas pipeline

Adriatic ion gas pipeline