Albania Gas System

Albania is among the countries in Southeastern Europe (SEE) with significantly underdeveloped natural gas networks. The natural gas system of Albania confines to a 400 km pipeline, with transmission capacity of 100,000 cu m per day, and adjoining metering stations. The development of the national gas system would require gasification of Albanian towns, a process that might take a while, considering the condition and spread of the existing infrastructure.

High priority projects for the Albanian gas sector are the modernization and extension of existing pipelines, the construction of cogeneration plants and the completion of underground gas storage (UGS) projects, estimated at EUR 107 mln to EUR 112 mln. Presently, there are no UGS in the country. Despite the own gas production and proximity to the well-developed gas markets as Italy, Greece and Croatia, Albania remains isolated from the gas routes in Europe. The country is weighing the options to connect with the networks of its neighbours via the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP), the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) or the Interconnector Greece-Italy (IGI).

Natural gas extraction in Albania is constantly decreasing, reaching 11 million cu m in 2007 from 250 million cu m in 1990. The Albanian Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy calculated the country’s gas reserves at 1.5 billion cu m. Although the demand for natural gas in Albania is rising, the consumption in the last years has fell to 4.460 million cu m in 2007 due to lower production volumes.