Flash News

Matura 2025, Albanian Language and Literature exam grades published

Hail and strong storm "grab" Belshi

KAS dismisses SP over vote revaluation

Albanian language included in official communications of New York public schools

Accident in Italy, 46-year-old Albanian dies (NAME)

E-TJERA

"Shell" company confirms the failure of Shpirag

Politiko 2024-04-13 15:25:13

"Shell" company confirms the failure of Shpirag

The international hydrocarbon giant, Shell, has officially confirmed the failure of the search for oil in Shpirag, warning of its withdrawal from this location. In the results report for the first quarter of this year, the company reports that it will delete from its records over 600 million dollars of research expenses, mainly in Albania. (Read the report)

"For the first quarter, well exploration write-offs are expected to be 0.6 billion dollars, mainly in Albania," the company stated in the financial results update for the first quarter of the year.

Oil companies spend billions of dollars on prospecting by collecting seismic data and drilling wells to discover new oil and gas deposits. But when exploration fails or wells prove unprofitable, companies write them off their books.

The Theater of Gastors

In the summer of last year, Edi Rama and Belinda Balluku appeared in front of the cameras to give Albanians one of the biggest news of the century. That of a big oil discovery in Shpirag, which would make Albania a rich country.

"This wealth will impact pensions, the education system, health, the well-being of our children. They will be the biggest beneficiaries that we will properly build a serious sovereign fund for the protection, guarantee and strengthening of sovereignty", said Rama.

The task of setting up the sovereign fund according to the Norwegian model, which would manage the billions from Shpirag's oil, was assigned to Belinda Balluk. The latter started immediately from work counting the money, which according to her was so much that it could not be managed from the state budget.

"From the moment we started work on establishing a Sovereign Fund, there is talk of income much higher than 500 million euros per year, which cannot be managed from the state budget, but from the Sovereign Fund," stated Balluku.

But this whole funny show ended too soon. First it was Kapitali, which on February 13 of this year published the news that the discovery of Shpirag was headed for failure. At that time the government and the company did not react. But now, the news of the failure is official and accepted by Shell itself.

But the government was left with the tale of the sovereign fund and the billions that would flow into the pockets of Albanian citizens, from children to pensioners. In short, a theater of clowns with the main actors being the two most important figures of the government, the prime minister and his deputy./ Kapitali

Latest news