July 6 (SeeNews) - Albania's prime minister Edi Rama said that Royal Dutch Shell is close to discovering major gas and oil reserves in the country, local media reported.
“The signs show that we may be close to a very important discovery of gas and oil underground, which will affect the future of our country but will also play a role in the energy future of Europe,” news provider Exit quoted Rama as saying on Tuesday.
The company is still reluctant to disclose details, Rama added.
In 2018, Shell Upstream Albania, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, signed an oil exploration agreement with Albania's government for the Block 4 area in the southern mountain of Shpirag. The company is also engaged in gas and oil exploration activities in the Block 2 and Block 3 permits at the Shpirag oil deposit.
Shell pledged to invest an estimated $42.5 million (41.5 million euro) over seven years in the search for new oil deposits in the country, Albania's ministry of energy and infrastructure said back in 2018.
($ = 0.9762 euro)