August the 1st, 2026 – Croatia’s energy company INA has confirmed a significant new natural gas discovery in the northern Adriatic.
Sinisa Malus reports for Poslovni that this latest discovery fully reinforces previous expectations that the offshore area still holds substantial untapped reserves. It could play a very important role in the country’s future energy supply. The announcement follows the successful completion of the first well in a new multi-year investment programme.
The newly completed Ana-4 DIR well, drilled within an existing northern Adriatic production field, reached a depth of 1,282 metres. Initial testing across three gas-bearing reservoirs produced a combined flow rate of around 160,000 cubic metres of natural gas per day, making it one of INA’s strongest-performing gas wells.
The company said the results confirm that Croatia’s offshore gas fields still contain considerable remaining reserves, despite decades of production. Preparations are now underway to connect the well to the existing production infrastructure so engineers can carry out extended testing, clean the reservoirs and gather additional data needed to certify the reserves and determine long-term production capacity.
The successful well is the first in a five-well drilling campaign that forms part of an investment cycle worth approximately €65 million. Drilling was carried out using the Labin jack-up drilling rig, operated by INA’s subsidiary CROSCO, without any reported safety or environmental incidents.
Work is already moving to the next stage of the programme. The Labin rig is being relocated to the IKA JZ-6 DIR location, where drilling of the second well will begin as INA continues its effort to increase domestic gas production from the northern Adriatic.
INA says the project is strategically important because increasing domestic production strengthens Croatia’s energy security and reduces reliance on imported natural gas. The company believes the northern Adriatic will remain a key source of Croatian gas supplies for years to come, with additional development of offshore reserves planned throughout the investment programme.
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