by Kostis Geropoulos ATHENS – The Albanian market will benefit from large quantities of natural gas that will come via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and it has already been agreed than an established exit point will supply the energy-starved country with gas, Albania’s Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry Dorian Ducka told New Europe on October 1. Speaking on the sidelines of IRN’s Balkans and the Adriatic Oil & Gas 2014 Summit, Ducka said Albania will start soon to prepare a master plan for the gasification of the country. Albania has received a grant of more that €1 million from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), he said. “With the outcome of the gas master plan we will be able to decide what amount of gas we will need for Albania and what the development stages will be,” he said, adding that the government plans to invite companies to jointly develop the gasification of the country. “Everything will depend on the recommendations from the gas master plan and we believe that the downstream business will be a very good one,” Ducka said, adding that it will bring foreign investments of more than €500 million. “It will benefit very much the Albanian consumer because it’s going to also diversify the energy supplies in the country so that they do not depend only on hydropower,” he said. Energy security is a critical concern in Albania which relies almost entirely on hydropower for its electricity production. TAP will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) near the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy. Ducka also said that Albania strives to become a Balkans gas hub since TAP will connect with the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) on Albania soil. “We’re not holders of the agreements but geo-physically and geo-strategically we’re automatically the hub for the gas distribution. But we will not be the ones who sign the sale contracts,” he said. Turning to oil exploration, Ducka told New Europe that in addition to US and Canadian companies, there is a growing interest from Israeli and Chinese companies to be involved in the oil exploration opportunities in Albania. “We have proven reserves in oil,” he said. “We have 13 Blocks ready. Those Blocks might be brought to the market but it depends on how Albpetrol - the state oil company - will be restructured,” he said. “We don’t have natural gas at all. It will be a new virgin market,” Ducka said. “It’s good that TAP will bring gas because it will create a new market in Albania,” he said. Dorina Cinari, head of EITI Albania Secretariat, told New Europe in the same conference that the latest developments from TAP and oil exploration are “a golden opportunity” for Albania. But she noted that these investments will take time and for the time being Albania has to depend on hydropower. See also: Serbia Says Bets Off For South Stream
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