LIBYA - The Foreign Oil Producers.

There are seven foreign oil producers in Libya, having JVs controlled by NOC. Their total production averages 986,000 b/d, up from 588,000 b/d in mid-2003 and 460,000 b/d in 1992.

In early 2004 Lasmo, a unit of Agip, became the seventh producer as its Elephant field went on stream with a capacity of 50,000 b/d and this has since been expanded to 150,000 b/d. Total oil production capacity of fields operated by the foreign companies will reach almost 1.4m b/d before 2010 (see table on the front-page of this week's OMT).

To raise its oil and gas production capacities, NOC has been seeking $30 bn in foreign investment through to 2010. The full lifting of US sanctions has meant Libya now can resume purchases of petroleum industry equipment, with US oil companies being leaders in technologies in this sector.

JVs involving foreign firms producing oil and gas in Libya in April 2007 had to change their names to new ones reflecting the country's history and geography. The JV operated by Repsol/YPF of Spain has since become Akakoss Petroleum Operations (APO) - a reference to the Akakoss mountains in the south of the country.

Veba, the German oil field taken over by Petro-Canada, has chosen al-Harruj Petroleum Operations after another southern Libyan mountain range

The Italian energy group ENI, including its operating arm Agip, has opted for Mellita Gas, named after the region where it operates west of Tripoli.

Total of France's operation has become Mabruk Oil - the word Mabruk, which means congratulations in Arabic, being a popular boy's name in Libya.

The new names are being be used in all contracts.

Repsol/YPF, in Libya since 1994, now is the biggest foreign producer of crude oil in this country, with an output averaging about 352,000 b/d from three fields: al-Sharara field, which it has developed to a capacity of 282,000 b/d; NC-186A field, with a capacity of 40,000 b/d; and NC-186D field, with a capacity of 30,000 b/d.

Al-Sharara lies in the Murzuk Basin south-west of Libya in the 4,275 sq km Block NC-115, 800 km south of Tripoli. Oil in place at the field and the two NC-186 fields has been put at between 2 bn and 5 bn barrels. The light/sweet al-Sharara and NC-186 A and D crude oils are exported by pipeline through the Zawiya terminal west of Tripoli, with direct exports from al-Sharara having begun in mid-1998.

Repsol has spent over $1.2 bn on developing the three fields. It put the first phase of al-Sharara on stream in late 1996 at 50,000 b/d. In January 1999, Repsol found light/sweet oil near al-Sharara and the M1 well flowed at 2,500 b/d. The new reservoir was said to contain up to 200m barrels. Repsol holds 40% in NC-115, NC-186A and NC-186D blocks and its partners are Total (30%) and OMV (30%). NOC owns 50% of the fields, as in the case of other operations involving foreign companies.

A 30-inch, 740-km crude oil pipeline has been built from al-Sharara and the coastal centre of Mellita in the north. This outlet has been expanded to 400,000 b/d, allowing Agip'd Elephant field in the Murzuk Basin to export its output temporarily. But Agip has built its own pipeline (see below). Later on this will be expanded further help to eventually raise Repsol's capacity to 570,000 b/d.

Repsol and its partners have spent over $200m in developing fields A and D in the NC-186 Muszuk Basin block. Crude oils from these fields are of 41[degrees] API. The two fields' recoverable reserves are said to be around 300m barrels. NC-186, just north of NC-115 and covering 4,300 sq km, is ideally placed as the export pipeline from al-Sharara runs horizontally through it to the north. NC-190 is just to the north of NC-186 and the export pipeline runs through it as well.

Repsol has made several oil discoveries at NC-186 since May 1998. It had signed an EPSA for Blocks NC-186, NC-187 and NC-190 in November 1997. In May 2003 it found oil in NC-190, with the well flowing at 700 b/d. Being the operator and holding 32% in these tracts, its partners are Total (24%), OMV (24%), and Saga Petroleum Mabruk (part of Norsk Hydro which later became part of Statoil, 20%). On Nov. 10, 1999, Repsol and its partners signed an EPSA with NOC for Block M-4 in the same basin to the north of NC-186.

A partnership of Repsol/YPF (60%, operator) and OMV (40%) in May 2003 signed an EPSA for a package consisting of M-1 Block in the Murzuk Basin, Mediterranean offshore Blocks O-9 and O-10, Block S-36 in the Sirte Basin, and Blocks K1 and K2 in the frontier south-eastern Kufra area. These six blocks' total acreage is 76,700 sq km.

Agip North Africa & Middle East: Agip, an operator in Libya since 1959, has a number of blocks where it is exploring for oil and gas. It produces 180,000 b/d from Bu Attifel and Rimal-Khatib group onshore and el-Bouri offshore. Agip NAME is a 100% Channel Islands part of ENI group of Italy.

Agip NAME's capacity has fallen from 320,000 b/d in 1992 to 180,000 b/d, because it has not been able to import adequate EOR equipment. But this excludes Agip's (Lasmo's) Murzuk Basin operations.

The worst affected is the Bu Attifel field, a giant requiring a water injection system because reservoir pressure has been falling since 1994. It is said that even if it manages to install an advanced EOR system at Bu Attifel, Agip's sustainable capacity is not likely to change much in the near future; but it would prevent a major fall in reservoir pressure.

Bu Attifel was found in 1968 at 14,300 ft on the eastern side of the Sirte Basin and was put on stream in late 1970. One of the deepest fields in Libya, it produces 41[degrees] API oil. It has 39 wells, of which about 30 are producers. Capacity has dropped from 170,000 b/d to less than 70,000 b/d.

Of the five discoveries made in Libya in 1990-1994, two were oil-rich structures near Bu Attifel found by Agip. The first one was found east of Bu Attifel and tested about 11,000 b/d of oil from the Nubian sandstone at 15,800 ft. The reservoir was said to contain 300m barrels. The second find south of Bu Attifel tested 5,000 b/d, with oil in place estimated at over 500m barrels.

However, the US sanctions prevented Agip from restoring Bu Attifel's output level to 170,000 b/d and raise it to 240,000 b/d by 2000, as was intended in early 1990. Rimal-Khatib are small oil structures near Bu Attifel found by Agip in 1965 at 14,000 ft. Their output is added to that of Bu Attifel.

A $234m gas separation and treatment plant at Bu Attifel started operating in late 1993. The plant was built by Snamprogetti and Bonatti in two years and four months.

The plant has the capacity to treat 384 MCF/d of dry gas, with 291 MCF/d coming from Bu Attifel and 93 MCF/d from the Nafoorah and Jisarah fields, as well as produce 25,000 b/d of condensates. The gas is transported by a 132-km pipeline to Marsa El-Brega. As part of Bu Attifel development projects initiated since 1990, NOC has built a 140 km pipeline carrying 30,000 b/d of condensates from Bu Attifel to the coast.

El-Bouri, in the Pelagian (Tripolitanian) Basin, is Libya's first offshore field with a huge gas cap. Found in 1976, it is on Block NC 41-B, a 37,700 sq km tract in the Gulf of Gabes. It lies under the sea at a depth of 8,700 ft, producing 26[degrees] API oil. It is under 170 metres of water, 150 km north-west of Tripoli. The field covers an area of 32 km by 5 km. It has been said to contain about 4-5 bn barrels of oil and 2.5 TCF of gas in place. Recoverable oil reserves were in the late 1980s estimated at about 650m barrels. The field is near the 7th November Block which is equally owned by Libya and Tunisia and operated by a Nimir-led JV.

El-Bouri came on stream in August 1988 at the rate of 12,000 b/d. A $2 bn development programme had been agreed between NOC and Agip in March 1983. The first phase involved drilling of 50 wells from two offshore platforms (DP3 & DP4). By end-1988 production had risen to 20,000 b/d. In 1989 it rose to 60,000 b/d, after 23 new wells were hooked up. Another 27 wells drilled in 1990-91 raised capacity to 70,000 b/d by mid-1991. A 1.3m barrel floating oil storage and mooring facility was supplied by Equipements Mecaniques et Hydrauliques of France.

In late 1993, Agip signed a wide-ranging agreement with NOC under which, among other things, it was to embark on a second phase for el-Bouri to expand its capacity to 150,000 b/d. This required 55 more wells from three new platforms - DP1, DP2 and DP5. The target was reached in 1995. But the field's output fell later because it required EOR and now it is averaging less than 70,000 b/d. El-Bouri has had a high gas/oil ratio of some 800-900 CF/b, which limits its recovery rate. The ratio was reduced in 1992 after drilling of six horizontal wells.

The late 1993 agreement with NOC improved the E&P terms to the extent that Agip was encouraged to expand el-Bouri and acquire several blocks in the Ghadames and Sirte Basins. The terms reportedly included an increase in Agip's share of el-Bouri's oil production from 19 to 30%. Under the same deal, Agip did a feasibility study for the development of gas-rich offshore Block NC-41, adjacent to el-Bouri, along with el-Bouri's gas reserves and an onshore gas field called al-Wafa'. Offshore NC-41, north-west of Tripoli called Bahr Essalam which contains oil, has a Pelagian Fm with characteristics partly similar to those of el-Bouri. Al-Wafa', found in 1991 by Sirte Oil Co., straddles the border with Algeria in the Ghadames Basin and is an extension of Algeria's Alrar gas field.

The study, done in late 1995, recommended development of NC-41's and el-Bouri's gas and Al-Wafa' for a stream of 10 BCM/year. Of this, 8 BCM/y was to be exported to Sicily through a marine pipeline. The remaining 2 BCM/y was to be consumed in Libya. But local consumption was delayed, and the exports to Italy have been higher than contracted. This 7.4 bn venture, called Western Libya Gas Project (WLGP), is owned 50% by each of Agip Gas BV and NOC. Related to it is the export pipeline venture called Greenstream, a 50-50 NOC-Agip company. With al-Wafa' development completed ahead of schedule, Greenstream was inaugurated on Oct. 7, 2004, in a ceremony attended by Libyan ruler Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi and then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (see Gas Market Trends No. 3).

Apart from the 10 BCM/y gas stream, the whole WLGP completed in 2005 produces 60,000 b/d of crude oil, 39,000 b/d of condensates, about 15,000 b/d of propane and 13,000 b/d of butane (see background in gmt2LibFieldsJul11-05).

Agip boosted its position in Libya with its takeover of Lasmo in December 2000. This gave Agip a stake in the giant Elephant oilfield in the onshore Murzuk Basin which went on stream in January 2004.

Agip (Lasmo) has developed the Elephant field, on Block NC-174 in the Murzuk Basin, which is producing 150,000 b/d. ENI, through Lasmo and Agip, holds 33.3% in this. NOC has 50% and a group of South Korean companies hold the remainder. ENI hopes the output could eventually reach 300,000 b/d.

Lasmo first came to an arrangement to use Repsol/YPF's link to the country's crude oil export pipeline on a temporary basis.

The same partners have Block NC-173 in a nearby section of the Gulf of Sirte (see detailed background in Vol. 57, Gas Market Trends No. 2).

Elephant's output now has its own 740-km crude oil pipeline from al-Sharara to Mellita completed in 2006 with a capacity of 150,000 b/d, later to be expanded (see Repsol profile above).

Petro-Canada of Calgary produces 115,000 b/d in Libya which in 2006/07 will have a capacity of 125,000 b/d before 2010. The production consists of 24,000 b/d from its En Naga field, in Sirte Basin Block-177 which it purchased in 2001 from Lundin Oil of Sweden, and 81,000 b/d from a number of fields which it got in January 2002 after its acquisition of Veba Oil & Gas of Germany from BP.

En Naga went on stream in March 2003 at the rate of 6,800 b/d. This rose to a plateau of 24,000 b/d in early 2004. En Naga crude is pumped to the Samah oilfield complex via a 100-km pipeline. The field contains 85m barrels.

The operation acquired from Veba involve several small fields and the mature giant Amal which is depleting rapidly. Their total output had fallen from 85,000 b/d in 1992 (see Vol. 57, Gas Market Trends No. 2).

Al-Harruj Petroleum Operations (HPO), a JV of Petro-Canada and NOC, has embarked on EOR projects. Tenders should be issued in the third quarter. This will be for Amal and the other fields.

Wintershall, a unit of the German petrochemical giant BASF, operates several fields in Blocks NC-96 and NC-97 in the Sirte Basin. Their output averages 112,000 b/d.

Its biggest field is As Sarah in the Jakhira zone, 450 km south-east of Benghazi, which it found in January 1989 in Block NC-96. The field's reserves were then estimated at about 250m barrels.

Total - whose operations in Libya are under the name of Mabruk Oil - produces 53,000 b/d and its capacity in 2009 will reach 110,000 b/d. Production consists of 40,000 b/d from the onshore Mabruk field, where a GOSP in 2006 raise the output to this level; and 13,000 b/d from the al-Jurf - of B - field in the offshore Block NC-137, which is being expanded to 60,000 b/d in a project to be completed in 2008.

Mabruk, in the Sirte Basin, was found in 1959 by Exxon. It was left undeveloped for over three decades because of its highly-fractured nature, low-pressure reservoir and low oil-gas ratio. Development costs were then estimated at $1 bn. The field's reserves were put at 1.3 bn barrels of 35-40[degrees] API oil.

Total signed an accord with NOC in late 1993 to develop the field. It brought on stream in June 1995 a pilot EOR system based on water injection, enabling the field to produce at 2,000 b/d. This has since risen steadily. Total has a 75% working interest. Saga Petroleum holds 25%.

Al-Jurf came on stream early in 2003. The operation is from a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Farwah, built by Izar of Spain for Exmar of Belgium and leased to Total for 12 years. The vessel, delivered in early 2003, is linked to a fixed platform in 90 metres of water.

The field, found in 1975 by Total and confirmed in 1998, is about 100 km off the coast near the Tunisian border. It produces 38[degrees] API oil. With NOC having 50%, Total holds 37.5% in this with Wintershall having 12.5%. The field's five wells indicate about 150-200m barrels would be recoverable.

In late July 2006, Total announced its first discovery in Block NC 191 in the southern Murzuq basin. The 1,735-metre deep, D1 well tested at 675 b/d. Appraisal of the new find and of the potential of the block, for which Total signed an EPSA in May 2001, is under way.

OMV of Austria has been in Libya since 1985, when it bought 25% of Oxy's operations for $110m. These included Oxy's oil-rich Blocks 102 and 103 in the Sirte Basin. OMV's output now averages only about 22,000 b/d from several small fields in the Sirte and Ghadames Basins, down from 40,000 b/d in 1992.

After Oxy left Libya in June 1986, OMV raised its E&P stake in this country by taking additional acreage (see Vol. 57, Gas Market Trends No. 2).

In 2007, OMV was to drill 13 exploration wells in Libya. The Austrian major has E&P operations in neighbouring Tunisia, where it produces oil and gas, and has upstream interests in Algeria and Egypt. It is operating Iran and has plans to operate in Iraq.