Eni, NOC to boost Libyan output, update contracts
Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 -- Eni SPA and Libya's National Oil Corp. signed a wide-ranging agreement aimed at boosting Libya's oil and gas production, with overall investment estimated at $28 billion over 10 years.
NOC and Eni agreed to convert their existing petroleum contracts to the most recent contractual model (EPSA IV), with a renewed duration of 25 years from January 2008, extending expiry dates to 2042 for the production of crude oil and 2047 for natural gas.
The two sides also said they have defined a new plan of strategic initiatives aimed at exploiting the country's oil and gas potential, especially at El Feel (Elephant) field and the Western Libya Gas Project.
In addition to implementing a new drilling campaign at nearby fields, they also will focus on maximizing recovery at their existing oil fields through enhanced programs such as CO2and water injection.
In addition, NOC and Eni will continue to explore the NC41 offshore area and strengthen the Mellitah hub by doubling gas export capacity to 16 billion cu m/year.
They said the Mellitah expansion will be achieved through upgrading the Greenstream line by 3 billion cu m/year for export to Italy and through construction of an LNG plant of 5 billion cu m/year for worldwide marketing.
Eni is operator in some of Libya's largest fields, including the oil fields of Abu-Attifel, El Feel, and Bouri, as well as the gas and condensate fields of Bahr Essalam and Wafa, which supply the Mellitah treatment plant and the Greenstream export line.
Earlier this month, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. said it plans to expand its operations in Libya by launching test drilling on Blocks 176-4 and 40-3/4 and by training more Libyan engineers in Japan (OGJ Online, Oct. 1, 2007).
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].