Libya: Lockerbie verdict delays NOC decision
Middle East Economic Digest, Feb 9
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) is waiting for the situation on the Lockerbie affair to become clarified before opening the closed bid envelopes for the licences to develop three packaged exploration blocks, industry sources in Tripoli say. The 31 January conviction of one of the two Libyan defendants has set in motion a complicated legal and diplomatic process that could take months to resolve.
Another factor slowing progress is last year's internal upheaval within NOC. The corporation's chief, Abdullah Salem alBadri, was appointed deputy minister for services affairs in October. His position at NOC was taken over by Ahmed Abdulkarim. However, it is not clear whether this will be a permanent appointment.
"A lot of the delays which people in all sectors are experiencing are due to the present circumstances," says a senior industry source. "People are waiting for the Lockerbie verdict and an announcement on Abdulkarim's future role."
NOC has given no indication as to the identity or even the number of companies that submitted bids by the 15 January deadline for the licences. The UK's BP and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group through its subsidiary Shell Libya Petroleum Development Company, Italy's Agip, Spain's Repsol YPF and France's TotalFinaElf had all expressed interest in the licences at an earlier stage.
Agip, the largest foreign producer operating in Libya is so far the only company to have confirmed its participation. The company, in partnership with Malaysia's Petronas and Japan's Teikoku Oil Company, has placed a bid for the prime acreage on offer in the M1 area of the Murzuq basin. The package also includes offshore blocks in the Sirte basin and an undefined area in the Kufra basin.
Agip, a wholly owned subsidiary of Italy's Eni, has established equity production of around 80,000 barrels a day (b/d) from the Bu' Affifel field located in the Sirte basin and from the offshore Bouri field in the NC-41 Block.
The company is looking to consolidate its position in Libya following its successful takeover last December of the UK exploration company Lasmo. The acquisition -giving Agip a majority interest in the 600 million-barrel Elephant field in the Murzuq basin - could eventually add 150,000 b/d to the company's production figures. |
