Petromanas sells Albanians assets to Shell for $45mln

NG Energy International

02/02/2016 16:04

* Petromanas sells Albanian assets to Shell 
    * Albania sees Shell's full ownership as good sign 
 
    TIRANA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Petromanas Energy Inc  PMI.V , a 
small Canadian company that helped to draw Royal Dutch Shell 
 RDSa.L  to Albania, sold all its assets in the Balkan country 
to Shell's local branch for $45 million, Petromanas said in a 
statement. 
    Thanks to its technical expertise, Petromanas got Shell 
interested with its drilling at Shpiragu well in southern 
Albania, close to a spot where Occidental  OXY.N  found oil in 
non-commercial quantities more than a decade ago. 
    Shell first bought a 50 percent stake in their joint venture 
in 2012, and increased it to 75 percent in 2013. Later 
Petromanas announced they had found light oil and sweet gas at 
Shpiragu and also drilled a well nearby in Molisht. 
    "Shell has agreed to acquire all of Petromanas' Albanian 
assets for aggregate gross proceeds of US$45 million (subject to 
closing adjustments)," Petromanas said, adding the deal was 
expected to close around March 15. 
    Petromanas is winding up its operations in Albania and plans 
to return around $43 million of the proceeds to its 
shareholders. 
    The fields being developed by the joint venture are to the 
east of the Patos Marinza oilfield, the biggest in Albania. 
    Albania's Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri said Shell's 
purchase was a good signal and a vote of confidence for 
Albania's oil and gas policies. 
    "When a company like Shell acquires 100 percent of the 
shares and the operatorship even in the hard times of low oil 
prices, we can only be thrilled for the future of the industry," 
Gjiknuri told Reuters. 
    Shell Upstream Albania was not immediately available for 
comment. 
  
  
 
 (Reporting By Benet Koleka; Editing by Keith Weir) 
 ((Benet.Koleka@thomsonreuters.com; +355 44 50 4878; Reuters 
Messaging: Benet.Koleka.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: ALBANIA PETROMANAS/SHELL