By Ardit Bejko
DUBROVNIK, July 6 – Albania has requested that an international gas pipeline be extended to travel through Albanian territory. The request was made during the Croatia Summit 2008 by Prime Minister Sali Berisha to Hilmi Guler, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister.
The Shahdeniz pipeline currently carries gas from Azerbaijan to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. From there, the gas is shipped to world markets. The conduit is 1,768 km long and transfers an annual 8.8 billion cubic meters of gas. The pipeline’s capacity will increase to 20 billion cubic meters a year by 2012, said Guler.
In an attempt to attract foreign investments, Berisha mentioned Albania’s invitation to join NATO, as well as reforms taken by the government, as signs of the country’s progress. The business climate has improved rapidly in Albania, said Berisha during his address to the summit.
Berisha’s government has been repeatedly unsuccessful in including Albania in several gas pipeline projects. The AMBO (Albania-Macedonia-Bulgaria) project and the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) are two of the largest conduits that would pass through Albania. AMBO will carry 37 million tons of oil a year from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. TAP will transport gas from Greece to Albania, continuing to Puglia in Southern Italy and then, further, to Western Europe.
The government was optimistic when declaring the country’s inclusion in these projects, but, since then, no visible progress has been made. The pipelines are important to Albania’s economy because they would provide for cheaper gas for thermal power plants. Additionally, the country would boost its revenues as it becomes a transportation hub between Western and Eastern Europe.
