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The extracted oil from the drilling in Shpirag is of high quality, comparable even to premium Saudi Arabian oil, stated Prime Minister Edi Rama in a media briefing.
After over a decade of work, drilling in Shpirag has reached a depth of 6,002 meters, tapping into a significant oil reserve.
Rama indicated that the government plans to manage the taxes collected annually from oil extraction in Shpirag, projected to be hundreds of millions of dollars, through the Sovereign Fund.
"The reserve is there, at 6,002 meters in depth. The reserves have been accessed after very challenging exploration and massive investment due to repeated drilling disruptions caused by geological formations. The water beneath the reserve has not yet been reached, suggesting the reserve's size could be even greater. We cannot provide specific figures at this stage. The information is not confidential at this phase, but without receiving the final test result that determines the feasibility of extracting this asset from a financial standpoint. If it were more costly than the profit, of course, the reserve would remain there until a time when technology could advance to levels not currently possible, despite Shell using the latest technology. Testing will commence in October, and the results will be based on the assessment of the sustainability of the surface flux. The discovered oil is of the highest quality, the first time this has happened in our country. According to analyses conducted in the Netherlands, it's of the same quality as premium oil from Saudi Arabia."
"The Sovereign Fund will have a profile that integrates the necessity to support pensioners and balance the heavy burden inherited from the past with the ethical principle that this wealth belongs both to those who lived and worked in this country and didn't get their share, and to those who are born and have the right to have their share. The sovereign fund is an investment fund that allocates a portion of the revenue to multiply it in the international market. We are working with the Harvard International Development Center."
The total investment will amount to 7 billion euros.
"The investment starts at 3 billion euros, and the projection is that until the completion of all necessary infrastructure, after commencing work on a series of drills to create the necessary complex for oil extraction, it will be a 7 billion investment in our country. An investment that foresees the construction of all infrastructure and logistics for the storage and separation of gas, oil, sulfur, and the third element holds special significance as it creates a base for agricultural inputs or cosmetic products, a base Albania can use to build an industrial component that we lack today."
Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, stated that the testing phase will begin in early October.