Bankers Petroleum stock down in heavy trading

TORONTO, Oct. 7 – Bankers Petroleum Ltd. (TSX:BNK) stock was down more than three per cent in very heavy trading last week on the Toronto Stock Exchange as the company reported third-quarter oil production came in lower than anticipated, according to the Canadian Press online edition.
At the close, the Calgary-based company with operations in Albania was down 25 cents, or 3.4 per cent, at $7.10. The stock usually trades about of 2.7 million shares a day, but saw almost 20.4 million change hands Thursday, making it the most active issue on Toronto’s main board.
“Three main factors affected lower than anticipated daily production volumes to this date,” the company said in a news release issued before markets opened.
They included less drilling capacity devoted to production growth, delays in the takeover of exiting wells for reactivation from the national oil company, Albpetrol Sh.a., and drilling problems involving several horizontal wells.
Because of operational and mechanical issues, Bankers said it was adjusting its exit productions target to 12,000 barrels a day for 2010 and to 20,000 for 2011.
Meanwhile, the company said production from its Patos-Marinza oilfield in Albania averaged 9,826 barrels per day in the quarter, a slight increase from 9,830 barrels in the second quarter.
Current production is 10,500 barrels a day, with 700 barrels per day of shut-in awaiting maintenance and repairs.
The average Patos-Marinza oil price was US$46.61 a barrel representing 61 per cent of the Brent oil price in the quarter compared with an average price of US$47.12, or 60 per cent of the Brent oil price, in the second quarter.
The company said it has received several new proposals to purchase Patos-Marinza crude at between 66 and 68 per cent of the Brent price and is currently finalizing new and current marketing agreements for 2011.
Bankers Petroleum Ltd. is a Canadian-based oil and gas exploration and production company focused on developing large oil and gas reserves. In Albania, Bankers operates and has the full rights to develop both the Patos-Marinza and the Ku谶a heavy oil fields. Bankers’ shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the AIM Market in London, England under the stock symbol BNK.