Shell takes over Albania Petromanas oil assets

The company Petromanas Energy Inc. announced  that it has entered into a purchase contract with Shell Upstream Albania BV (“Shell”), a subsidiary that is wholly owned by the Royal Dutch Shell plc, under which Shell has agreed to acquire the assets of Albanian Petromanas for 45 million dollars.The proposed transaction is expected to close on March 15. Shell previously had a 25% stake in the business in Albania.

Petromanas Albania GmbH (“PAG”), and Shell are part of a joint contract in the block on the ground (“Block 2-3 PSC”) and are participating in a joint operating agreement for Block 2-3 PSC. Petromanas currently has 75% stake and Shell 25%. The company believes that this transaction will benefit as it will return capital to shareholders, will enable the withdrawal from activities in Albania appropriately and provide capital for the company to reorganize, including strategic decisions assets in France.

The proposed transaction is expected to complete the strategic process of the company previously announced. In October of 2014, and based on the costs associated with drilling wells Shpiragu-2 and Molisht-1, the management entered into a strategic process to identify and explore all possibilities to support the financial requirements of an assessment of long-term development 2 -3 blocks. The company hired Peters & Co. to act as its financial advisor in connection with the review process. The Board has received an opinion from the Peters & Co. that the amount to be received by the Company under the Agreement is fair from a financial standpoint for Petromanas.

In December 2013, the National Petroleum Agency announced that after 4 years of research in Shpiragu blocks 2 and 3, the company Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and the company Petromanas Energy Inc. announced positive test results Shpiragu-2 well.

This discovery aroused the interest of many companies to explore for oil in Albania. Currently the government has put on sale 13 oil blocks in different countries of Albania.

In July 2015, Shell has responded to the invitation of the Albanian government to develop the extraction of oil blocks in the area still largely dormant Dumre.