TIRANA, June 2 – 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 comes 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 country’s biggest oil producer said on Thursday it has temporarily suspended production due to business interruption at the Petrolifera terminal port facility in Vlora after oil spills polluting the Albanian southern beach of Zvernec.
The country’s biggest oil producer earlier announced that the preliminary deal had received the necessary approvals by Albanian and Chinese authorities.
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.
The deal came soon after Canada-based Bankers Petroleum suffered losses of $3.6 million in 2015 when oil prices almost halved to an average of $52/barrel forcing the country’s largest oil producer to cut production and sales.
Bankers Petroleum says it has invested $1.4 billion during its 11 years of operations in Albania, becoming the largest foreign investor and employing over 1,500 people.
The recent airport and the Bankers Petroleum deals are on track to increase China’s presence as a foreign investor in Albania from almost zero to almost half a billion euros making China among the country’s top foreign investors at a time when the economic superpower is already emerging as the country’s second largest trading partner.
Geo-Jade Petroleum, which engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas, has emerged as one of the largest non-state listed oil company in China by output and market capitalization with its main assets located in Kazakhstan.
