Proved Reserves (1P) Increase by 43% and Proved plus Probable (2P) by 12%

CALGARY, Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Bankers Petroleum Ltd. ("Bankers" or the "Company") BNKBNK is pleased to provide the results of its December 31, 2011 independent reserves evaluation and reports another consecutive year of reserves additions since Company inception in 2004.

Evaluations were conducted by RPS Energy Canada Ltd. (RPS) for the Patos-Marinza oilfield, Albania and by DeGolyer and McNaughton Canada Ltd. (D&M) for the Kuçova oilfield, Albania and were prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 51-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities.

Total Company Reserves Summary

• Proved reserves (1P) of 172 million barrels (43% increase from December 31, 2010) representing over twelve times production replacement.
• Proved plus probable reserves (2P) of 267 million barrels (12% increase from December 31, 2010).
• Proved, probable and possible reserves (3P) of 426 million barrels (unchanged from December 31, 2010).
• Original oil in place (OOIP) resource estimate (P50) of 8.0 billion barrels (3% increase from December 31, 2010).
• 2011 average production was 13,051 bopd for an annual total of 4.8 million barrels (3% of proved reserves).
• Reserves Life Index is 30+ years.

Patos-Marinza Field

• 1P reserves increased 45% to 169 million barrels of oil from 117 million barrels at December 31, 2010.
• 2P reserves increased 13% to 256 million barrels (December 31, 2010 - 226 million barrels).
• 3P reserves remain unchanged at 395 million barrels (December 31, 2010 - 395 million barrels).
• OOIP estimate (P50) increased 3% to 7.7 billion barrels (December 31, 2010 - 7.5 billion barrels).
• All of Patos-Marinza's 2011 recoverable reserves estimates are from primary recovery methods only.

The 2011 reserves growth is primarily attributable to continued implementation of horizontal drilling, expansion of field development to enhance recovery and the upgrade of 3P into 2P reserves and 2P into 1P reserves, based on extended periods of actual well and reservoir performance. The 49% and 43% respective increases in Proved developed producing reserves (PDP) and total Proved reserves in 2011, plus the reduction of probable and also possible reserves compared to 2010, validates the reservoir performance and improvement in reserves classification achieved over the year. Significant additional reserves resulted from appraisal drilling of the Gorani and Driza formations through horizontal drilling in new areas of the field where no reserves had been booked in previous years, which resulted in a direct migration of contingent resource into probable and possible reserves, resulting in the growth of 2P and replenishment of the 3P category totals.

Patos-Marinza Contingent and Prospective Resources

RPS has also updated the Contingent and Prospective oil resource estimates for the Patos-Marinza oilfield as at December 31, 2011. Contingent and prospective resources are based on similar recovery estimates as the main part of the field and analogous fields under primary horizontal and secondary water-flood development applied to the Driza and Marinza formations and thermal development technologies applied to the Gorani and Driza formations to optimize recovery in the extension areas of the field.

The thermal pilot first steam injection commenced in the fourth quarter of 2011.  A water flood pilot will be implemented in 2012.

Contingent resources for 2011 are 1.0 billion barrels, compared to 1.2 billion barrels in 2010.

Prospective resources for 2011 are currently being updated and will be reported later on this month. Prospective resources in 2010 were 540 million barrels.

Kuçova Field

The water flood pilot started in 2011 with one injector and two producers with plans to expand the program in 2012. Field reserves remain relatively unchanged at:

• 1P reserves 3.2 million barrels.
• 2P reserves 10.8 million barrels.
• 3P reserves 31.1 million barrels.
• OOIP resource estimate remains unchanged at 297 million barrels.

Gross Oil Reserves - Using Forecast Prices (MMbbls)

				2011						2010
	Patos- Marinza			Kuçova			Total Albania			Total Albania			%
Proved   Developed Producing   Developed Non-Producing   Undeveloped	25.8 - 143.4			- - 3.2			25.8 - 146.6			17.3 - 102.9			49 - 42
Total Proved Probable	169.2 87.1			3.2 7.6			172.4 94.7			120.2 117.4			43 -19
Total Proved Plus Probable Possible	256.3 138.9			10.8 20.3			267.1 159.2			237.6 189.0			12 -16
Total Proved, Probable & Possible	395.2			31.1			426.3			426.6			0

Patos-Marinza Contingent and Prospective Resources

The Contingent resources (C2) on a P50 basis are 1.0 billion barrels.   The contingencies are (a) confirmation by field testing of the well performance demonstrating commercial productivity of the zones, and (b) further definition of development plans using viable recovery processes to commercialize the resources.  There is no certainty of commercial viability to produce any portion of the resources.

Prospective resource figures are still under determination.

Total Net Present Value (NAV) of Total Company Reserves (after Tax, discounted at 10%)

• 1P reserves US$1.0 billion ($4.10/share)
• 2P reserves US$2.0 billion ($7.97/share)
• 3P reserves US$3.7 billion ($14.91/share)

Basic shares outstanding of as of December 31, 2011 were approximately 248 million (273 million diluted).

Net Present Value at 10% - After Tax Using Forecast Prices (US$ millions)

				2011						2010
	Patos- Marinza			Kuçova			Total Albania			Total Albania			%
Proved   Developed Producing   Developed Non-Producing   Undeveloped	347 - 647			- - 22			347 - 669			220 - 729			58 - -8
Total Proved Probable	994 854			22 103			1,016 957			949 1,019			7 -6
Total Proved Plus Probable Possible	1,848 1,377			125 344			1,973 1,721			1,968 1,584			0 9
Total Proved, Probable & Possible	3,225			469			3,694			3,552			4

The slight reduction in Proved undeveloped reserves (PUD) and Probable reserves discounted value is primarily due to increased capital in these two categories.

Values are based on RPS (Patos-Marinza) and D&M (Kuçova) January 1, 2012 price forecast tables summarized below:

Reserve Auditor Price Decks - Dated Brent

BRENT Oil Price Forecast US$/bbl
Year	RPS	D&M
2012	$110.00	$106.00
2013	$105.50	$104.67
2014	$101.00	$105.42
2015	$100.80	$106.25
2016	$102.80	$106.08
2017	$104.90	$108.20
2018	$107.00	$110.36
2019	$109.10	$112.57
2020	$111.30	$114.82
2021	$113.50	$117.12
2022	$115.80	$119.42
2023	$118.10	$121.85
2024	$120.50	+2.0% Thereafter

The average realised sales price the Company is receiving for crude oil from the Patos-Marinza and Kuçova oilfields are at a discount to Brent.  Currently, the average sales price for domestic and export sales is approximately 70% of Brent (an increase of 8% over 2011 average realised pricing of 65%), but may increase throughout 2012 on confirmation from spot contracts that have been indicated at 75 to 76% of Brent.

Finding and Development Costs (F&D)

In the 2P development case, the horizontal well count has increased from 624 wells in the previous year's projected full case development program of US$1.2 billion to 910 wells in 2012 and beyond, representing total future capital of US$1.9 billion. With a weighted average horizontal well recovery of 220,000 barrels in the 2P category (10% lower than the previous year's projected average recovery) 74 new horizontal wells have been added to the existing Driza development plan. Additionally, the expansion of the drilling program into new areas and zones of the Patos-Marinza oilfield, notably in the Gorani formation and step-out areas in the Driza formation, has added 212 additional new horizontal wells to the capital program representing new reserve additions.

Total future undiscounted capital costs for Patos-Marinza and Kuçova are now projected to be US$1.7 billion, US$2.0 billion and US$2.5 billion on a 1P, 2P and 3P basis, respectively. This represents the following F&D costs, calculated as total future development capital divided by barrels of recoverable reserves after currently developed PDP reserves in each category:

• 1P reserves US$11.50 per barrel.
• 2P reserves US$8.48 per barrel.
• 3P reserves US$6.18 per barrel.

"We are very pleased to report that for the last seven years, the Company has continued to grow reserves and production year over year and demonstrate its ability to upgrade the total reserves volumes into proved and probable categories (63% in 2011 and 56% in 2010, of total reserves). Our objective remains focused on converting most of the remaining 3P reserves into 2P and 1P reserves over the next few years. While F&D costs have increased from 2010, the individual well and project economic metrics remain strong. We anticipate adding significant primary reserves in future years by expanding development beyond the current field boundaries. With successful thermal and waterflood pilots and an economic source of natural gas, the Company can start to validate significant portions of the Contingent and Prospective resources into recoverable reserves." said Abby Badwi, President and CEO of Bankers.

Operational Update

Due to active drilling activities at the rate of 10 wells per month with various objectives (reserves, production, and water disposal), variable productivities and well declines, combined with having up to 10% of existing wells down on any given day for servicing, water space and other restrictive activities, the Company will commence reporting average production numbers over a specific period rather than current production on a certain day.

Average production for January 2012 was 14,220 bopd, this rate is on target to achieve 5% to 7% production growth for the quarter over Q4-2011 production of 13,833 bopd. Along with production additions, drilling in Q1 is focused on expanding water disposal capacity and field delineation in the extension areas.

Thermal well 5201 has been put on its first production cycle following a 3,000 m³ water equivalent injection cycle at good injection rates over a 2 week period and a subsequent soak period. This early first cycle injection and production data is required to develop the thermal model for the pilot area, in conjunction with recently completed core analysis data from the observation well 5200. First cycle production and initial thermal model data will be available in the next operational update scheduled for April 2012.

The Block "F" survey for the "Ardenica" exploration well location is now completed with road and lease construction to commence shortly. The estimated spud date is late March.

Further details, including the February 2012 Corporate Presentation, are available on the Company's website www.bankerspetroleum.com.

Conference Call

The Management of Bankers will host a conference call on February 13, 2012 at 6:30am MST to discuss this reserves report. Following Management's presentation, there will be a question and answer session for analysts and investors.

To participate in the conference call, please contact the conference operator ten minutes prior to the call at 1-888-231-8191 or 1-647-427-7450. A live audio web cast of the conference call will also be available on Bankers website at www.bankerspetroleum.com or by entering the following URL into your web browser http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/918421/980617

The web cast will be archived two hours after the presentation on the website, and posted on the website for 90 days. A replay of the call will be available until February 27, 2012 by dialing 1-855-859-2056 or 1-416-849-0833 and entering access code 21749043.

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Caution Regarding Forward-looking Information

Information in this news release respecting matters such as the expected future production levels from wells, future prices and netback, work plans, anticipated total oil recovery of the Patos-Marinza and Kuçova oilfields constitute forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Company's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results and are believed to be reasonable based on information currently available to the Company. 

Exploration for oil is a speculative business that involves a high degree of risk. The Company's expectations for its Albanian operations and plans are subject to a number of risks in addition to those inherent in oil production operations, including: that Brent oil prices could fall resulting in reduced returns and a change in the economics of the project; availability of financing; delays associated with equipment procurement, equipment failure and the lack of suitably qualified personnel; the inherent uncertainty in the estimation of reserves; exports from Albania being disrupted due to unplanned disruptions; and changes in the political or economic environment.

Production and netback forecasts are based on a number of assumptions including that the rate and cost of well takeovers, well reactivations and well recompletions of the past will continue and success rates will be similar to those rates experienced for previous well recompletions/reactivations/development; that further wells taken over and recompleted will produce at rates similar to the average rate of production achieved from wells recompletions/reactivations/development in the past; continued availability of the necessary equipment, personnel and financial resources to sustain the Company's planned work program; continued political and economic stability in Albania;  the existence of reserves as expected; the continued release by Albpetrol of areas and wells pursuant to the Plan of Development and Addendum; the absence of unplanned disruptions; the ability of the Company to successfully drill new wells and bring production to market; and general risks inherent in oil and gas operations.

Forward-looking statements and information are based on assumptions that financing, equipment and personnel will be available when required and on reasonable terms, none of which are assured and are subject to a number of other risks and uncertainties described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis, which are available on SEDAR under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information and forward looking statements.

Review by Qualified Person

This release was reviewed by Suneel Gupta, Executive Vice President and COO of Bankers Petroleum Ltd., who is a "qualified person" under the rules and policies of AIM in his role with the Company and due to his training as a professional petroleum engineer (member of APEGGA) with over 20 years experience in domestic and international oil and gas operations. 

About Bankers Petroleum Ltd.

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 the Patos-Marinza heavy oilfield and has a 100% interest in the Kuçova oilfield, and a 100% interest in Exploration Block F.  Bankers' shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the AIM Market in London, England under the stock symbol BNK.

 

 

SOURCE Bankers Petroleum Ltd.