Shell bids to drill two Albanian onshore blocks

NG Energy International

23/07/2015 11:19

* Shell-led venture seeks two oil blocks in Albania 
    * Energy Ministry evaluating three bids 
 
    TIRANA, July 23 (Reuters) - A venture between Royal Dutch 
Shell  RDSa.L  and Canada's Petromanas  PMI.V  has applied to 
drill two onshore blocks in central Albania close to another 
promising well they are drilling further south, an official told 
Reuters on Thursday. 
    The official said three bids had been submitted for the 
blocks - from Shell Upstream Albania B.V with Petromanas Albania 
GmbH, Israel's Delek Group Limited  DLEKG.TA  and Interland 
Investments SA. 
    The National Resources Agency has forwarded the bids to the 
Energy Ministry, which will pick a winner and instruct the 
agency to start negotiations.  
    Shell's bid signals renewed interest in Albania, a NATO 
nation seeking to join the European Union, after many oil majors 
failed to strike oil there in the decade after it toppled 
communism in 1990. 
    The Shell-Petromanas venture in Albania is now drilling two 
wells to size up the output potential after very promising 
initial results at their Shpirag well, half a mile from the spot 
where Occidental found very little oil in 2001 and quit. 
 
 (Reporting by Benet Koleka; editing by Zoran Radosavljevic and 
Jason Neely) 
 ((Benet.Koleka@thomsonreuters.com; +355 44 50 4878; Reuters 
Messaging: Benet.Koleka.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: ALBANIA SHELL/