* 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.