By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 19 -- Madrid-based Repsol-YPF SA has received approval from Libya's National Oil Co. (NOC) to develop 'A' field on Block NC-186 in Murzuq basin 720 km from the Mediterranean coast in the southwestern Sahara Desert. The field, estimated to hold 140 million bbl of oil reserves, is a middle Ordovician structure trap sealed by the Tanezzuft Silurian shale, said block operator Repsol-YPF.
The $155 million development scheme will involve production being transported through a 31 km pipeline to facilities of the Repsol-YPF-operated, giant El-Sharara field then carried via pipeline to the Mediterranean port city of Zavia. Peak production from the field is expected to reach 40,000 b/d with production anticipated to start by first quarter 2004.
Repsol-YPF and its block partners have drilled 8 exploration wells in the area since May 1998. Five of these wells, the company stated, have tested at rates of 1,600-2,300 b/d, "demonstrating a reserves potential in excess of 300 million bbl." Most recently, a fourth discovery well was drilled on the 4,300 sq km Block NC-186 that found an oil column in the Hawaz sand and tested at 2,286 b/d of 41° gravity oil (OGJ Online, Dec. 14, 2001).
Repsol-YPF's block partners are NOC, Austria's OMV AG, France's TotalFinaElf SA, and Norway's Saga Petroleum Mabruk.
In 2001, Repsol-YPF's total net Libyan production was a reported 6 million bbl.