Bankers Petroleum given exploration permit in Divjaka

TIRANA, April 9 – The Albanian Ministry of Economy and Energy has signed an agreement with Bankers Petroleum giving the Canadian-based oil and gas exploration and production company the right to explore for oil and gas in the Divjaka area of the Lushnja district, southwest Albania.
In Albania, Bankers operates and has the full rights to develop both the Patos Marinza and the Ku谶a heavy oil fields.
The agreement giving Bankers Petroleum exploration rights in Block F (Divjaka) was signed by Economy Minister Dritan Prifti and Abby Badwi, the president of Bankers Petroleum Albania.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, minister Prifti described the agreement as one of the most important with a foreign company which has invested more than 400 million euro in the oil sector in Albania.
“We are signing this agreement on Block F, mainly with the hope that the company will invest 15 million dollars there on the exploration and development of the area,” said Prifti, adding that the gas and oil extracted in the new site could be used for the company’s needs in the Albanian and foreign markets. The minister said he was pleased that oil production in Albania had trebled in the past few years. “If in 2005 we produced 250,000 tons of oil a year, this year we will exceed the 700,000 tons,” said Prifti, pleased that the company was moving fast to reaching a daily production of 10,000 barrels of oil.
Meanwhile, Bankers Petroleum President Badwi said Block F, the Divjaka area, was an important part of the development of their activity in Albania, convinced in its perspective of natural gas and oil resources.
Recent data published by Bankers Petroleum show first quarter production in 2010 averaged 8,282 barrel of oil per day (bopd) from the Patos Marinza oilfield in Albania, a 14% increase from fourth quarter 2009 production of 7,234 bopd. Total current production is in excess of 9,500 bopd. Bankers average wellhead oil price for the first quarter was approximately 47.08 per barrel dollars (representing 62% of the Brent oil price), 4% higher than the fourth quarter 2009 price of 45.10 dollars per barrel.
Bankers operates and has the full rights to develop the Patos Marinza and Ku谶a heavy oilfields pursuant to 25 year license agreements with the Albanian National Agency for Natural Resources (AKBN) and a petroleum agreement with Albpetrol, the state owned oil and gas corporation.
The Patos Marinza oilfield is the largest onshore oilfield in continental Europe, holding approximately 5.7 billion barrels of original oil in place. The Ku谶a field has 297 million barrels of original-oil-in-place.
Bankers’ shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the AIM Market in London, England under the stock symbol BNK.