Page 7 - AfrOil Week 43 2019

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil
LIBYA
WAHA Oil Co. (WOC), a subsidiary of Libya’s National Oil Co. (NOC), has begun test oper- ations for the second phase of development at Faregh, a natural gas and condensate field.
According to WOC, the test programme will help push output levels up at Faregh from 70mn cubic feet (1.98mn cubic metres) per day, the average level reported at the end of first-phase work, to 250 mcf (7.08 mcm) per day in just two weeks. The field is also set to yield 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate during sec- ond-phase operations, the company added.
WOC launched testing on October 23 by pumping gas to an oilfield known as Intisar-103. The next step will be to transport gas from Inti- sar-103 to the pipeline network that runs along Libya’s Mediterranean coast, it said.
Initially, WOC will use output from Faregh for a gas-injection programme at Intisar-103. It intends to inject the gas into this field to help maintain reservoir pressure and improve pro- duction rates. Later, it may be able to use the coastal pipelines to deliver additional volumes to customers in Libya’s eastern regions. Among the potential buyers are thermal power plants (TPPs), which are currently using more costly and less environmentally friendly petroleum products for fuel, along with manufacturers of methanol and the Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Co. (LifeCo) in Marsa El Brega.
Mustafa Sanalla, the chairman of NOC, said he was pleased with WOC’s progress at Faregh. “WOC has finally overcome difficulties to com- plete this vital project after long delays caused by
shutdowns and unstable security conditions in the country,” he said. “I congratulate WOC man- agement and employees for their achievement.”
Sanalla added: “NOC will continue to take steady steps towards our objectives – condi- tional on improved security, as well as timely and adequate financing and investment.”
Ahmed Abdallah Ammar, the chairman of WOC’s management committee, also expressed
his satisfaction with the testing programme at  Faregh. “I would like to thank all WOC employ-
ees for their hard work, as well as NOC for its continuous support to complete this project,”
he said. ™
 NOC is looking to push output levels up to around 2mn bpd by the end of 2022 and then to 2.2mn bpd by the end of 2024, the officials said. They stressed, though, that the company would need to invest its own funds and work with for- eign partners to achieve this aim.
Doing so will not be cheap, they remarked. The current version of NOC’s five-year devel- opment plan calls for the investment of $15bn into various projects, especially the acquisition of new technologies capable of increasing pro- duction and making development operations more efficient and the expansion and upgrade of Libya’s domestic pipeline networks, they said.
The officials went on to say that they did not expect the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) to foot the bill for these endeavours, given that its track record for providing financial support and covering payments to NOC has been unsatisfactory. Instead, they suggested that the company turn
to the financial markets by seeking loans and issuing securities. Libyan banks and private sector investors support this plan, they asserted.
NOC should seek to trim costs by reduc- ing staff from the current level of 15,000, they added.
They also called for taking measures to loosen government control over NOC, argu- ing that the GNA should adopt a new oil law to replace existing legislation that has been in place since 1955. The legal regime should include provisions offering foreign investors more flexible exploration and production agreements and ensuring that oil revenue goes to NOC and not directly to the state, as has been done since 1984, they commented.
The officials went on to argue in favour of re-establishing a Ministry of Oil in Tripoli. The ministry would regulate and oversee the oil and gas industry, it said, leaving NOC to function as a commercial holding company. ™
Gas production set to rise soon at Libya’s Faregh field
Gas production will rise more than three-fold at Faregh (Photo: J&P Group)
Week 43 30•October•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7