Albanian-Greek “battle” for oil in the Ionnian Sea
19/03/2015 00:00
The Washington Agreement Must Be Reactivated! 06/01 19:04
Albania has many ambitions to develop the new oil-containing, but it may not be easy.
Two days ago, Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that there are 13 free blocks for searching for oil and gas in the Albanian land and sea. The map has existed for a long time, but it has been passed from one government to another.
“The complete map was started in the 1980s, when a special directory was created for the negotiation of these concessionary gas and oil agreements”, declared in 2010 the Deputy Minister of Energy, Pajtim Bello.
However, eight years ago, when the Albanian government reached a preliminary agreement with a foreign company. This initiative was so concrete that it woke up the claims of the Greek side, which had initiated a master-plan two years ago for oil researches in the maritime waters.
“Top Channel” has secured the 13 coordinates that limit the oil-containing areas in the southern par of the country, which starts from the Karaburun Peninsula and ends in the most southern border of Albania, in 240 square kilometers.
The Greek government also published its 20 blocks that will be given in concession for searching oil in the sea.
Top Channel has secured the coordinates of Block 1, in the maritime border with Albania, near the Corfu island. This blocks lays on a surface of 1801 square kilometers.
While the Albanian block is within the Albanian territorial waters, the Greek one has been decided based on the claims for a new maritime border between Greece and Albania, for which was attempted an agreement but that was rejected by the Constitutional Court in Albania.
Although the border has been decided and there are no doubts about this, the claim of the Greek government for the border is withholding the searches in the Albanian borders. This postponement due to the Greek claims has not been confirmed officially by the Albanian authorities.
The period of the predicted researches coincides with the time when the Greek government started asking a new border with Albania, which makes the Albanian side smaller. Top Channel will bring the claims of the company that had been established for searching oil in Albanian waters and find out more about these delays.
Top Channel
