By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 27 -- Occidental Petroleum Corp. has lifted its first Libyan crude oil for shipment to the US since leaving its operations in Libya's prolific Sirte basin in 1986 because of US economic sanctions.
Those sanctions were in place for nearly 20 years. This is the first shipment of a US company's equity share of Libyan crude oil to the US, Occidental said.
The cargo of 900,000 bbl of 36° gravity crude marks a milestone, Oxy Chairman, Pres. and Chief Executive Officer Ray R. Irani said.
"Above all, it reflects the on-going improvement in US-Libya relations," he said. Occidental negotiated an agreement with Libya's National Oil Corp., effective July 1, to resume operations under the "standstill agreement" that preserved Oxy's claims to the licensed properties (OGJ, Aug. 8, 2005, p. 30).
Current estimates indicate that Occidental's net Libyan production will reach 22,000 b/d by yearend, an increase from earlier estimates of 12,000-15,000 b/d.
Occidental has assets in Libya's Intisar-103 and Epsa fields and interests in 13 exploration blocks. The holdings encompass 130,000 sq km, making Occidental the largest net working interest holder of oil and gas acreage in Libya.