Bankers Petroleum reports 43 percent operating income drop on the year

TIRANA, Nov 16 – Bankers Petroleum, the Canadian oil and gas company, said its net operating income rose 33 percent on the quarter to $9.3 million (6.2 million euro) in the three months to September but was down 43 percent from a year earlier.
The company’s net income from operations in Albania plunged 65 percent on the year to $1.7 million in the three months to September, Bankers Petroleum said in its third-quarter financial statement posted on its website.
Oil revenue increased 17 percent quarter-on-quarter to $23.4 million in the three months to September but dropped 30 percent on the year.
Production in Albania averaged 6,258 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in the quarter through September, compared to second-quarter production of 6,383 bopd.
Current production is 7,100 bopd with 350 bopd shut-in pending well servicing, while for 2009 the projected $44 million capital expenditure program is expected to yield an exit production rate of approximately 8,000 bopd, the company said.
“Bankers maintained a strong balance sheet with working capital of $50.2 million at September 30, 2009 ($61.4 million in cash) as compared to working capital of $28.2 million at June 30, 2009,” it added.
In October 30, 2009, the Canadian company signed an $110 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund capital and working capital needs.
The loan comprises two six-year revolving facilities of $50 million for development of the Patos Marinza oil field; and two eight-year loans of $10 million for environmental restoration of the property.
“I am happy that in my electoral zone $110 million will be invested in development of the oil and gas sector. These investments are expected to affect the increasing number of employees and will impact the economic development of the area,” Economy, Trade and Energy Minister Dritan Prifti said during the signing ceremony.
Bankers Petroleum is an oil and gas exploration and production company which drills Albania’s onshore Patos Marinze and Kucova heavy oilfields and fields in the northern and central regions of the U.S. and in Canada.