TIRANA, June 8 – Albania’s energy ministry has indefinitely delayed bidding by companies looking to explore for oil and gas on two offshore blocks, including one in disputed waters with Greece.
The move comes after Greece also announced it was postponing exploration in waters that are disputed between the two countries.
Albanian authorities also delayed by a month to mid-July the tender for five onshore blocks.
Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri ordered the bidding date be postponed for another month for the inland areas to give companies more time.
The offshore exploration is made more complicated by a conflict with neighboring Greece after the Albanian Constitutional Court voided a deal on the maritime border the two governments reached in 2009.
Both governments have made known plans for oil exploration in disputed waters in the Ionian Sea.
Part of one of the offshore blocks, the Ionian 5, offered by Albania three weeks ago overlaps with the area of the Ionian Sea near Corfu in which Greece also wants to let companies drill.
Relations between the two countries have come under increased scrutiny by local media with reports that Greek Defense MinisterPanos Kammenos, the leader of a right wing party in coalition with the far-left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, has announced his country would reopen all the border army posts with Albania.
That means that Greek army troops will again patrol the 600 kilometer border line between the two countries.
Greece says that will help them stop illegal activity like drug smuggling and illegal hunting.
Both Albania and Greece are NATO members.
During his election campaign Tsipras said Greece should had vetoed Albania’s NATO membership and any further progress in its EU bid, according media reports.
Albanian foreign ministry officials officials told Tirana Times they don’t put much weight on those comments because they weren’t made in an official capacity. However, they added, Albania hopes to solve the situation in a mutually beneficial way.
