Bankers Petroleum fined by Albanian authorities for improper excise tax payments

TIRANA, Nov. 20 – The Albanian subsidiary of Canada’s Bankers Petroleum, which operates the Patos-Marinza heavy oilfield in southwestern Albania, has been ordered to pay about Lek 70 million (Euro 487,000, USD 700,000) in fines and late taxes for improper application of excise tax on its products, customs authorities said Wednesday.
Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd., which is the largest oil and gas exploration and production company in Albania, was imposed the fine for selling fuel in the domestic market without applying the proper excise tax to it.
“An audit carried out by customs authorities at Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd. showed the company has used 627,505 litres of D1 Diesel 10 ppm for purposes other than those when the product is excluded from excise duty,” Albania’s General Customs Directorate said in a statement in its website.
Customs authorities said the company had avoided Lek 23.2 million in excise tax and was fined Lek 46.4 million for the violation, taking the total amount to about Lek 70 million.
Bankers Petroleum, which exports most of its products, is excluded from excise tax only for exports, not for the fuel that is used domestically inside Albania.
Since a new Socialist party-led government took over in September 2013, customs authorities have fined several oil companies for trading fuel without the proper excise tax application.
Since 2004, Bankers operates and has the full rights to develop the Patos-Marinza and Ku谶a heavy oilfields under a 25-year concession contract with the Albanian government. The Patos-Marinza oilfield is the largest onshore oilfield in continental Europe, holding approximately 5.4 billion barrels of original oil in place. The Ku谶a field has 297 million barrels of original-oil-in-place.
Bankers Petroleum reported net income of USD 46.7 million in the first nine months of this year, up 49 percent compared to the same period last year on higher production, and oil sales.
Bankers Petroleum is one of the biggest companies in Albania in terms of turnover and one of the top foreign investors in Albania.
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