TIRANA, June 9 – Canada-based Bankers Petroleum says it has resumed its usual production and export operations after a six-day halt at the Petrolifera terminal port facility in Vlora, southern Albania, following oil spills polluting the Albanian southern beach of Zvernec.
In a statement, the country’s biggest oil producer which is about to change hands and be taken over by a Chinese company, cut production by about 4,000 barrels of oil per days for six days due to lack of storage.
“Production is being brought back online immediately and is expected to resume pre-closure production levels over the next week,” said Bankers.
Canada-based Bankers Petroleum says China’s Geo Jade is expected to take over its major Albania operations in late June or early July. The announcement came after Bankers’ shareholders approved a deal to sell their major Albania assets and a newly acquired minor oil block in Hungary for a reported C$575 million (€392 mln).
The surprise announcement of Bankers’ sale last March came as the country’s biggest oil producer has recently been facing tough times after more than a decade of operations in Albania due to a sharp cut in international oil prices and tax and environmental disputes with the Albanian government.
