VIENNA: Spanish oil firm Repsol said it is making final preparations to resume drilling in Libya in early 2013, adding to signs that the Opec member’s key industry is returning to normal after the 2011 civil war.
“We have ordered a new drilling rig and we will start as soon as that arrives, probably early next year,” said a Repsol executive on the sidelines of the North Africa Oil and Gas conference.
A Repsol spokesman said the first drilling would be in the east Libyan desert and added that production was now close to the 350,000 barrel per day it was pumping before the war.
While the Opec country has impressed analysts by ramping up production more quickly than expected to around 1.6 million barrels per day, it has so far had only limited success in luring back security-conscious foreign firms to explore. This is despite its 47 billion barrels in proven crude oil reserves.
A deadly attack on the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi in September is widely seen as acting as a further deterrent, especially for US oil firms.
The relative caution of international oil firms contrasts with the speed with which Libyan oil workers resumed work, sometimes even before the end of the conflict. The slow return of companies could hamper the ability of Africa’s third largest oil producer to raise future output, according to the Chairman of Zueitina Oil company which works alongside US firm Occidental Petroleum Corp.
“Some of them have lifted their force majeures but when it comes to actual work we have heard nothing,” said Abdul Nasser Fituri Zammit, adding that the absence of construction and oil services companies was slowing down projects.
Libyan oil executives are hoping the Repsol decision as well as a commitment by BP to resume exploration will encourage others to return.
“Exploration is still much less than before war. I hope the companies will be back early next year. Now it’s being done by (Algeria’s) Sonatrach and NOC,” said a source in the Libyan oil ministry.
Reuters
