Bankers Petroleum Announces 2012 Reserves Report

224 Million Barrels of Proved plus Probable (2P) Reserves; NPV of $1.86 billion
Average Production 1^st Quarter to Date 16,800 bopd

CALGARY, Feb. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Bankers Petroleum Ltd. ("Bankers" or the "Company") (TSX: BNK, AIM: BNK) is pleased to provide the results of its December 31, 2012 independent reserves evaluation. 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

Gross Oil Reserves - Using Forecast Prices (Million barrels)

Highlights

• 2P Reserves after tax value at 10% is $1.86 billion ($7.31 per share);
• 2012 Company average production was 15,020 bopd for an annual total volume of 5.45 million barrels (4.1% of total proved reserves);
• Reserves Life Index is 30+ years;
• Technical adjustments to the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) per horizontal well and type curves reflect production performance, improved geological mapping, reservoir modeling, fluid testing and drilling results;
• Reserve volumes have been adjusted to reflect reduced recoverable oil booking in non-core area extensions of the field where drilling to date has been limited.

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

Basic shares outstanding of as of December 31, 2012 were approximately 254 million (274 million diluted).

Values are based on RPS (Patos-Marinza) and D&M (Kuçova) January 1, 2013 price forecast tables summarized below:

Reserve Auditor Price Decks - Dated Brent

Patos-Marinza Crude Pricing

The average realized sales price the Company is receiving for crude oil from the Patos-Marinza and Kuçova oilfields are at a discount to Brent oil.  Currently, the average sales price for export sales is approximately 80% of Brent (an increase of 13% over the 2012 average realized pricing of 71% of Brent).

Finding and Development Costs (F&D)

In the 2012 2P development case, the horizontal well count has been increased from 910 wells at a cost of $1.4 million per well in the previous year to 1,085 total wells at a cost of $1.2 million per well in 2013 and beyond.

Total future undiscounted capital costs for Patos-Marinza and Kuçova are projected to be US$2.3 billion, US$2.4 billion and US$2.7 billion on a 1P, 2P and 3P basis, respectively. This represents the following F&D costs, calculated as total future development capital divided by recoverable reserves excluding currently developed PDP and PDNP reserves:

Original Oil in Place

The Original Oil in Place ("OOIP") volumes in the reserves area of the field has been revised to 2.4 billion barrels, compared to 2.6 billion barrels at the end of 2011. OOIP outside the reserves area is 2.7 billion barrels compared to 5.1 billion barrels in 2011.

Kucova OOIP resource estimate remains at 297 million barrels.

Abby Badwi, President and CEO of Bankers commented "The 2012 reserves are attributable to primary recovery methods by continued implementation of horizontal drilling which has been demonstrating positive results based on extended periods of actual well and reservoir performance. Well counts have increased marginally from the 2011 forecast, however, individual well and project economic metrics remain strong. While additional drilling capital and corresponding reserves could have been added to the development plan in lower recovery areas and zones in the field, the Company elected to defer these plans until further evaluation drilling is conducted in these areas. Looking forward to the waterflood and polymer flood development opportunities, a successful thermal pilot and confirming an economic source for natural gas, the Company will be able to increase and accelerate the overall recovery from this world class asset."

Operational Update

Average production for the first quarter to date was 16,800 bopd; this rate is 4.0% higher than the fourth quarter average production of 16,163 bopd.

Last month one of the five drilling rigs operating for the Company in Albania was damaged during mobilization between locations. The rig is currently being repaired and is expected to resume drilling next week. Bankers 2012 production forecast remains unchanged.

The Government of Albania declared last week that the process for the privatization of Albpetrol was unsuccessful and has been terminated. There was no further disclosure regarding future plans for proceeding with this process.

Further details, including the February 2013 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 25, 2013 at 6:30 am 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/1113879/1214189

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 March 11, 2013 by dialing 1-855-859-2056 or 1-416-849-0833 and entering access code 11243361.

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.