Oil & gas firm granted offshore exploration licence

A Maltese subsidiary of a Jersey-based oil and gas drilling company has been granted an exploration licence to drill in two maritime zones off southeast Malta. 

The licence will entitle Albion Energy Malta Ltd to explore offshore areas two and seven, which cover approximately 18,000 square kilometres, for a two-year period.

The Finance Ministry announced the licence in a brief statement on Wednesday, saying the licence binds the company to carry out geological and geophysical studies on existing data. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had said last December that the government was "evaluating" a licence bid.

In its statement, the ministry said that Albion Energy Malta Limited is owned by Albion Energy Limited.

Albion Energy is a large-scale oil and gas producer with a history of drilling in several sub-Saharan African countries as well as central Asia. Its CEO, Tony Buckingham, also founded Heritage Oil, which was granted a local oil exploration licence for the same two offshore zones - two and seven - back in 2007. 

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