Page 11 - AfrOil Week 12 2021

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

NOC subsidiary brings Erwan on stream

LIBYA ZALLAF Oil and Gas Co., a fully owned sub-
sidiary of Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC), has
announced the completion of the first develop-
ment drilling well at Erwan field, following the
conclusion of drilling and operations.
In a statement, NOC noted that crude oil
from the new field had been transported to
the nearest surface facilities in the Sharara
field, which is 100 km away from Erwan in the
south-western Libyan desert.
The initial results from the well were encour-
aging, with production rates topping than 1,800
barrels per day (bpd). The NOC subsidiary plans
to continue testing it at different choke sizes
until both the well and the reservoir are prop-
erly evaluated.
Zallaf Oil and Gas Co. is an upstream unit Erwan’s initial crude oil production rates topped 1,800 bpd (Photo: NOC)
of NOC. It was established in 2013 to develop
small and marginal discoveries and fields that in production and industrial areas.
have been discovered and appraised but not yet The company is mandated to develop NOC’s
produced, as well as increase oil and gas produc- activities in southern Libya from its base in the
tion and create sustainable spatial development city of Sebha. ™

Russia’s Tatneft hoping to

resume work in Libya in 2021

LIBYA NAIL Maganov, the CEO of Tatneft (Russia), in 2011, pending a resolution of the civil war.
said last week that his company intended to Then in 2014 it attempted to return so that it
resume work at its oilfields in Libya sometime could collect seismic data from a 200-square km
this year. area in Ghadames.
“We plan to continue the projects in Libya It soon departed because of a deterioration in
that were suspended due to force majeure [con- security conditions, however.
ditions] in the country,” Maganov was quoted Over the last few years Tatneft has made
as saying by the Prime news agency. He did not several attempts to resume exploration work in
reveal specific details of these plans, but he did Libya. In late 2019, for example, company geol-
note that the company had already taken steps ogists reportedly began collecting seismic data
in the direction of restarting its operations in in the Ghadames basin.
Libya. They apparently did not make much head-
Additionally, he stated that Tatneft hoped to way, but Tatneft’s chairman, Rustam Min-
finish drilling the wells that it had begun before nikhanov, said in December 2020 that the firm
civil war broke out in Libya in 2011. was looking into plans for restarting its explora-
Tatneft is based in the Russian internal tion programmes.
republic of Tatarstan and is controlled by the Libya has remained on a relatively steady
republican administration. The company footing since last autumn, when two of the
obtained a concession for a field in the Ghad- main factions battling for control of the country
ames basin, which is believed to contain more signed a formal ceasefire agreement.
than 3.5bn barrels of oil in recoverable reserves, Since then, the Government of National
in 2005. It then signed production-sharing Accord (GNA) and Libyan National Army
agreements (PSAs) for three more fields in the (LNA) have succeeded in installing an interim
Ghadames and Sirte basins in 2006. government that will remain in place until the
After carrying out some exploration work at elections that are scheduled to take place in
these fields, the company suspended its activities December. ™

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