TIRANA, May 18 (Reuters) - Albania will offer companiesinterested in oil and gas exploration seven offshore and onshoreblocks in June in a bidding process, officials said on Monday.
The small Adriatic state began preparing the bids a year agoafter a yet-inconclusive but significant discovery by a venturebetween Shell and Petromanas in southernAlbania drew much interest.
Energy minister Damian Gjiknuri wants bids for onshoreblocks Four and Five in southern and southeastern Albania andDumre in central Albania to be handed in by June 15.
Bids for the remaining blocks, the offshore Ionian 5 andRodoni and the onshore Panaja and C, would be accepted untilJune 25, Gjiknuri told the Natural Resources Agency.
Once the bids come in, the Natural Resources Agency willevaluate the offers and recommend the best one to the ministryso that it may negotiate a production-sharing agreement.
The companies would be able explore for an initial period ofup to five years which can be extended to seven if needed, andthey can develop and produce in the block for 25 years or morein accordance with Albanian oil laws.
Offshore oil exploration caused friction last week betweenAlbania and neighbouring Greece after Tirana asked Athens,according to press reports, to stop its programme of offshoreoil search until both countries resolve their dispute over thewaters in the Ionian Sea.
Part of the Ionian 5 block offered by Albania overlaps withthe Ionian Sea area in which Greece seeks to search for oil.
The previous Albanian government agreed a deal dividing thecontinental shelf with Greece, but was later reversed by thecountry's top court after a complaint brought by the rulingSocialist Party.
Attempting to play down the controversy with Greece, ForeignMinister Ditmir Bushati said on Monday that the area was subjectto binding international agreements. (Reporting By Benet Koleka, Editing by Ahmed Aboulenein)
