VALLETTA - The Daphne Project has recently revealed that Maltese taxpayers were potentially losing tens of millions of euros a year for spending nearly double the amount on gas than they should have.

 This information was found in the confidential files that Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered in October 2017, received from a whistle-blower.

 The 680,000 papers were meant to have been destroyed in the car bomb that killed the reporter, who was working on “possibly her biggest” story, however they ended up in the hands of the Daphne Project.

 The Daphne Project is a collaboration of 18 media organisations from 15 countries, including La Repubblica, The Guardian, Reuters, The New York Times, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Times of Malta, who are dedicated to continuing the work of Ms. Caruana Galizia.

 The leaked files reveal a signed contract between the Azerbaijani state-owned oil and gas company Socar and the Maltese governement, in a billion-dollar deal for the 10-year supply of gas to the island’s power plant. All this at double the market price.

 Three energy experts in London that examined the files said they contained pricing information and contracts that the Maltese government has thus far refused to share with the public.

 In response to the Daphne Project’s revelations, the Maltese government said: “Today Maltese people pay less for energy compared to the past.”

 However, Simon Busuttil, a former Nationalist party leader in Malta, said: “There was a total lack of transparency on this contract.

 Although no parties have yet been accused of wrongdoing, the case is under investigation given the lack of public tender for the gas contract and the lack of public information about its structure and costs. As one advisor noted, it was indeed a very "unusual" agreement.