Libya seems assured wide participation in the EPSA-4 exploration and production licensing round now pending.
More than 120 companies applied to participate in the round by the Oct. 19, 2004, deadline, an official source said. Submission and opening of bids is to take place Jan. 10, 2005, at the Mehari Hotel in Tripoli.
Nine of the 15 blocks up for bids are entirely onshore in the Ghadames, Sirte, Cyrenaica, and Murzuk basins. All 15 blocks total 126,646 sq km (OGJ Online, Aug. 16, 2004).
Press reports quoted Tarek Hassan-Beck, director of planning at Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp., that among the qualified applicants are Apache Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp., ConocoPhillips, and Marathon Oil Corp. of the US.
US companies have been prohibited from operating in Libya until the recent lifting of sanctions imposed in 1986.
Libya is Africa's second largest oil exporter after Nigeria. Subject to OPEC quota, it averaged 1.58 million b/d of oil production in July (OGJ, Oct. 11, 2004, p. 64). All of the production is land based except that from Bouri and Al Jurf fields in the Mediterranean.
ENI, Repsol status
ENI SPA of Italy and Repsol-YPF SA, Madrid, are the two largest non-Libyan producers and largest acreage holders.
ENI's Agip unit is involved in a megaproject that involves development of two fields. Wafa oil and gas-condensate field is on Block NC-169 in the Ghadames basin near the border with Algeria and 550 km southwest of Tripoli. NC-41 Structure C (Bahr Essalem field) oil and gas-condensate field is in the Mediterranean 110 km northwest of Tripoli.
Wafa field started producing in September and supplied the first gas through subsea pipelines to Gela, Sicily, on Oct. 1 (OGJ Online, Oct. 26, 2004).
Bahr Essalem is to go on production in 2005. Sabratha, Libya's first offshore gas platform, will be used to develop Bahr Essalem field.
Wafa/Bar Essalem and other projects will boost ENI's operated production in Libya to 570,000 boe/d by the end of 2005 from 230,000 boe/d in 2004.
The two fields hold recoverable volumes of 950 million boe net to ENI's 50% interest.
ENI began operating in Libya in 1959 with the "82 Concession." Its production anchored at Bu' Attifel field in the Sirte basin, the company acquired the Elephant field discovery in the Murzuk basin 800 km south of Tripoli. Elephant is expected to peak at 150,000 b/d in 2006.
Meanwhile, gross production averaged 200,000 b/d of oil from fields Repsol operated from a net 94.8 million bbl of reserves in 2003. Net production averaged 20,244 b/d.
Repsol held mining rights on 17 blocks in Libya at the end of the year. Agreements signed in May and December 2003 in which Repsol obtained interests in 12 blocks marked the consolidation of the company's position in the Murzuk basin and its entry into the Sirte basin.
Wintershall's position
Wintershall AG, Kassel, Germany, a Libyan operator since 1958, joined with Libyan newcomer Norsk Hydro AS of Norway to jointly bid for blocks in Libya.
The companies will share ownership of any future discoveries. Wintershall will operate any production established on land, while Hydro will operate offshore finds.
In return, Hydro is offering Wintershall future collaboration in areas of the Norwegian continental shelf. The two companies already participate in Wingas, a joint venture that sells Norwegian gas to the UK.
Wintershall has been producing oil from five fields in the Sirte basin: As Sarah, Jakhira, Nakhla, Tuama, and Hamid. It also participates with Total SA, Paris, and NOC in Al Jurf field in the Mediterranean.
Wintershall disclosed it will spend $400 million on E&D in the coming 3 years in Libya, where it has invested more than $1.2 billion and drilled more than 120 wells.
The company has drilled five exploration and appraisal wells in 2004 and plans three more by yearend. All five have discovered oil, and two of those appear to be new field discoveries, the company said. Wintershall and NOC are assessing development options.
In mid-October, Wintershall started up a new oil production facility in an undrilled extension area at Jakhira field on Concession 96 about 1,000 km southeast of Tripoli in a ceremony attended by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder and Libyan Prime Minister Dhukri Mohammed Ghanem. The company began producing oil at Jakhira in 1976.
Wintershall doesn't give its Libyan oil production, which is subject to OPEC quota, but says the company is producing 7.5 times what it did in Libya in 1990.
Wintershall has reduced gas flaring to a minimum in its Libyan fields and with NOC is assessing market opportunities for Libyan gas.