Albania’s prospects of significant oil and gas discoveries that could boost the country’s future and also play a big role in Europe’s energy future, as announced by Prime Minister Edi Rama, could spell good news for a nearby Greek license in the country’s northwestern Epirus region.

Dutch energy giant Shell, a company that likes to keep its cards close to its chest, is preparing for drilling activities at Albania’s Shpirag 5 license, following successful exploration at Shpirag 4, which has delivered production totaling many thousands of barrels per day.

Shell Upstream Albania, Shell’s Albanian subsidiary, has been active in the neighboring country since 2018, pledging to invest more than 40 million euros over a seven-year period.

As for the Epirus license, in Greece’s wider Ioannina area, a consortium comprising Repsol and Energean has invested over 40 million euros, primarily for a seismic survey conducted in 2018 and 2019, a procedure through which an area to be further explored has been identified.