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Sky Petroleum has been granted exclusive rights to three exploration blocks totaling approximately 5,000 km2 (1.2 million acres), representing roughly 20% of the land mass of Albania. In addition to the exploration rights, the company will also have access to more than 1,200 km of 2-D seismic data. Previous work on the blocks have identified 10 prospects or exploration leads covering approximately 435 km2 and believed to contain up to 900 million barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable hydrocarbons from the proven deep carbonate play trend.

Albania is a proven hydrocarbon producing region with earliest known bitumen production dating all the way back to the Roman Empire. Modern exploration began in the early 1900’s. The Patmos – Marinza and Kucova heavy oilfields are among the largest oilfields in Europe. To date, more than 150 million barrels have been produced. Ultimate recovery may well reach into the billion barrel range. Exploration of the deep carbonate structures began in the 1960’s. To date there have been ten significant field discoveries in the carbonates and deep clastics.

Albania also has a well developed petroleum infrastructure with three commercial refineries as well as modern port facilities located on the Adriatic Sea in close proximity to the major European markets. Currently all of Albania’s production is consumed in the local market or shipped to Italy, 50 km to the west. There is also a well developed road system to facilitate access to drill sites. Natural gas infrastructure is currently being expanded. In addition to local markets, Albania sits in the cross roads of several planned major gas pipeline projects from the Black Sea region to Western Europe.