By Gajtis Bejleri
TIRANA, July 4 – The Ministry of Economy, Transports and Energy (METE) announced last Friday that it would seek a bid to purchase areas for diesel and gas storage in Porto Romano, just north of Durr쳮 This would allow the current storage areas to be relocated from the Durr쳠and Sh쯧jin seaports.
In changing the location of the storage area, METE seeks to avoid pollution in populated seaside areas.
In their announcement, METE declared that 55 hectares has been approved for storage by the Committee for the Regulation of the Territory. Next to the storage area, the plan includes the building of a port to be used for delivering and shipping gas and diesel shipments.
At a July 25, 2007 Council of Ministers meeting, the Minister of Economy proposed changing the law on “processing, transport and trade of diesel, gas and their sub-products”. An important change was the interruption of all oil processing and trading activities in the ports of Durr쳠and Sh쯧jin within 18 months.
With only six months left, some oil companies operating in Albania declared they might not be able to finish their projects by deadline, mostly due to the high financial and technical costs to relocate in Porto Romano. According to Ministry officials, the cost of relocation should mount up to USD 1 million per oil depot.
In Sh쯧jin, three companies currently operate with depots very close to each other. The same is true in Durr쳬 where five companies have their oil depots.
