Bankers Petroleum to Resume Production from Albanian Wells Next Week

Canadian company Bankers Petroleum said it expects all its wells in Albania to be back on production next week provided there are no further flooding issues.

On February 1, the company was forced to shut-in 81 wells in Albania, or the equivalent of approximately 3,500 barrels of oil per day (bopd) due to rising water levels preventing access to facilities as the nearby river breached its banks, Bankers Petroleum said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.

The company said there had not been significant damage to its equipment or facilities in the affected areas.

Bankers' main operations are located in Albania, where the company has the full rights to develop the Patos-Marinza and Kucova heavy oilfields pursuant to 25-year licence agreements with the Albanian National Agency for Natural Resources and a Petroleum Agreement with Albpetrol.

The Patos-Marinza oilfield is the largest onshore oilfield in continental Europe, holding approximately 7.7 billion barrels of original oil in place. The Kucova field has 297 million barrels of original-oil-in-place.

Bankers also holds a seven-year exploration licence on a 185,000 acre block named "Block F" in Albania, which is also prospective for natural gas.

Source: SeeNews