Shell oil giant enters Albania

TIRANA, Feb. 14 – Netherlands-based Shell oil giant has entered Albania acquiring a 50 percent stake in two onshore oil exploration blocks in Albania held by Canada’s Petromanas Energy. Shell will farm into blocks 2 and 3, which cover some 852,000 acres, in exchange for payments and carried costs up to $50.3 million, according to a statement by Petromanas.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Sali Berisha this week, Shell’s Marcus Antonini pledged to launch the drilling programme next March, committing around half of their 50 million investments by this year.
Meanwhile, Petromanas will continue to act as operator of the blocks.
“[Shell] brings exceptional technical capabilities and substantial resources to our new relationship,” Petromanas CEO Glenn McNamara said in a statement.
“We believe that partnering with a global leader like Shell provides a validation of the potential of our Albanian assets and the exploration work we have completed to date,” McNamara said.
The company said its 2012 drilling program in Albania remains unchanged and is moving ahead as planned.
“We expect the addition of a further seismic program to accelerate the exploration and development of the blocks,” he said.