On January 10, Swiss-based Manas Petroleum
Corporation broke the news. Gustavson Associates LLC's Resource
Evaluation identified large prospects of oil and gas reserves
in Albania, close to Kosovo. They are in areas called blocks
A, B, C, D and E, encompassing about 780,000 acres along the
northwest to southeast "trending (geological) fold belt
of northwestern Albania."
Assigned estimates of the find (so far unproved) are up to
2.987 billion barrels of oil and 3.014 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas. However, because of their depth, oil deposits
may be capped with a layer of gas. If so, Gustavson calculates
the potential to be 1.4 billion barrels of light oil and up
to 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Further, if only
gas is present, the discovery may be as much as 28 trillion
cubic feet. In any case, if estimates prove out, it's a sizable
find.
In its statement, Gustavson reported: "The probability
of success for a wildcat well in a structurally complex area
such as this is relatively high (because) it is in a structurally
favorable area (and) proven hydrocarbon source and analogous
production exists only 20 to 30 kilometers away."
(Article continues below)
Currently, the Balkans region has small proved oil reserves
of about 345 million barrels, of which an estimated 198 million
barrels are in Albania. Proved natural gas reserves are much
larger at around 2.7 trillion cubic feet.
In December 2007, Albania's Council of Ministers allowed
DWM Petroleum, AG, a Manas subsidiary, to assist in the exploration,
development and production of Albania's oil and gas reserves
in conjunction with the government's Agency of Natural Resources.
This development further underscores Kosovo's importance
and the cost that's meant for Serbia. Since the 1999 US-led
NATO war, it's been all downhill for the nation, the region
and its people:
--Kosovo is part of Serbia; at least it was; since 1999 it's
been a Washington-NATO occupied colony stripped of its sovereignty
in violation of international law;
-- it's been run by three successive US-installed puppet
Prime Ministers with known ties to organized crime and drugs
trafficking;
-- it's the home of one of America's largest military bases
in the world, Camp Bondsteel; the province/country is more
a US military base than a legitimate political entity;
-- its part of Washington's regional strategic objective
to control and transport Central Asia's vast oil and gas reserves
to selected markets, primarily in the West;
-- on February 17 during a special parliamentary session,
Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence; the action
violates international law; Kosovo is as much part of Serbia
as Illinois is one of America's 50 states; to no surprise,
Washington and dominant western countries support it; opposed
are Serbia, Russia, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, Malta,
Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus;
-- might makes right; the issue is a fait accompli; the February
17 declaration ignores EU division pitting one-third of its
27 members in opposition; and
-- unilateral western-supported independence mocks the 1999
UN Security Council Resolution 1244; it only permits Kosovo's
self-government as a Serbian province; the resolution recognizes
the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia;" only a new UN resolution in
compliance with international law can change that legally;
nonetheless, it happened anyway on another historic day of
infamy when Washington again trashed international law and
the rules and norms of civil society.
