Abandoned Albanian gas field could be reopened: press
The operator of Albania's closed Delvina gas field has sought regulatory permission to explore for additional resources in the area, Euractiv reported on May 30.
Delvina spans an onshore territory of 234 km2 in southwest Albania, close to the border with Greece. The field was first discovered in 1987, and an agreement to develop it was first reached in 2007. Since then the companies operating the project have changed several times.
Delvina Gas is now progressing plans to re-complete its production wells, which have a nominal gas output capacity of between 8,000 and 10,000 m3/day. This will support Albania's gasification programme. The country currently generates most of its power at hydroelectric dams, but wants to bring natural gas into the mix as a stable baseload supplier of electricity.
Albania benefits from serving as a transit route for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline that pumps gas from Azerbaijan to south Europe. ExxonMobil and Excelerate Energy also signed a preliminary agreement in March last year to build an LNG import terminal at Albania's port town of Vlora.
While the LNG project is still at an early stage, Albania could supply gas from the terminal to the wider Balkans region. The national gas company Albgaz signed a memorandum on May 17 with Bulgaria's Overgas and US-based Linden Energy to cooperate at the Vlora facility.