Gas market liberalized

TIRANA, Jan. 30 – Albania’s productive activities parliamentary commission has approved a draft law which liberalizes the gas market in Albania ahead of the expected approval of the TAP pipeline stripping Albpetrol oil firm of its distribution exclusivity. The draft law was approved this week, receiving only the votes of the ruling majority. An Energy Ministry representative said the legal changes precede infrastructural preparations on TAP and the Ionian-Adriatic, the two pipelines expected to pass through Albania.
“A misunderstanding that could come up in the future arose regarding TAP’s application to transmit gas so the approval of this law was considered a necessity,” said Stavri Dhima, a Ministry of Energy representative.
The Albanian government had granted Albpetrol oil firm, whose privatization process has stalled, exclusive rights to distribute gas in Albania.
Considered as the shortest and most economical route to bring Caspian gas to Europe, Albania officials hope the Shah Deniz consortium will decide on the Trans Adiatic Pipeline as the winning project.
If selected as the winning pipeline to bring Caspian gas to Western Europe, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which also includes Albania in its itinerary, would have a major impact on the contribution to GDP, number of jobs created and tax revenues raised, a study conducted by Oxford Economics has found out.
Rival Nabucco West pipeline passes Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary to end up in Austria will send gas to countries which have a huge dependency on Russian gas.