Albania could become a new gateway for liquefied natural gas entering Southeast Europe under plans for an Adriatic terminal with annual regasification capacity of up to 5 million tonnes.
The project, being developed with US-based Argent LNG, is intended primarily to serve regional rather than Albanian demand. Its proposed pipeline links could move imported gas towards the Western Balkans and further into Central and Eastern Europe.
Argent LNG has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Albanian government covering the development of storage and regasification infrastructure.
The terminal could connect with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the planned Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline and the Fier-Vlore corridor. Reverse-flow and swap arrangements could extend its commercial reach towards more distant markets, potentially including Ukraine.
US LNG is expected to be the principal supply source. Argent LNG has also signed cooperation memoranda with Turkey’s BOTAS, Ukraine’s Naftogaz and Romanian transmission operator Transgaz, suggesting a broader strategy stretching from the Adriatic to the Black Sea.
The terminal is being presented as an energy-security project under the Three Seas Initiative and as an alternative to existing pipeline corridors.
Its commercial case will depend on securing pipeline access, long-term buyers and competitive transport tariffs across several national systems. If those pieces are assembled, Albania would gain a role in regional gas trading far larger than the size of its domestic market.
