Volume 3, issue #7 - 04-03-1998

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Occidental and partners sign Albania contracts

Jan. 20, 1998 Occidental Petroleum Corporation has announced that a group led by its subsidiary Occidental of Albania Ltd. has signed production-sharing contracts with the National Petroleum Agency of Albania for three blocks covering more than 1.1 million acres.
Blocks A, 2 and 3 are located within the eastern portion of an onshore fold and thrust belt where more than 500 mm barrels of oil and 1 tcf of gas have been discovered.
Over the three-year exploration period, Occidental will conduct a 650 km seismic programme, perform geologic field studies and drill two exploratory wells. Primary objectives of the exploration are thrust fault-related structures in carbonate reservoirs that are geologically similar to recent multibillion-barrel discoveries in the Apennine thrust belt area of southern Italy.
Occidental, with a 50 % interest, is the operator for a group that includes Anschutz Albania Corporation with a 30 % interest and IPC Albania Ltd. with a 20 % interest.