Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the discovery of oil in the country’s Shpirag region located in the country’s central Berat province on Wednesday.
At a news conference with Albanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku, Rama stated that the newly discovered oil reserve could have a significant impact on Albania’s geopolitical and geostrategic position.
Rama asserted that the newly discovered oil reserve is of the highest quality and similar to that of Saudi Arabia’s premium oil, as verified by a Dutch laboratory.
Operations in the region, which have been going on for about 10 years, are on the verge of final tests, which Rama said are necessary to assess the pressure balance of the flow of gas and oil that can be extracted from underground.
He explained that the reserve is 6,000 meters underground and could only be reached following very difficult research due to the geological formation of the region and with substantial investment.
The project investment initially amounted to €3 billion, but a further investment of €7 billion is planned to cover the start of drilling and the construction of infrastructure for the entire complex for the extraction, processing, and storage of the hydrocarbons.
Reporting by Fatjon Cuka and Furkan Abdula in Tiran, Albania
