Woodside signs Libyan E & P sharing agreement
Posted: 1 December 2003
Woodside Energy (N.A.) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Woodside
Energy Ltd., Repsol Exploración Murzuq, S.A., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Repsol YPF of Spain, and Hellenic Petroleum S.A.,
of Greece, have finalised an exploration and production sharing
agreement with the Libyan National Oil Corporation.
The agreement, over 30 years with an initial six-year exploration
phase, was signed on Sunday, 30 November 2003, in Tripoli and covers
five exploration blocks in the onshore Sirte Basin in northern Libya
and one in the onshore Murzuq Basin in western Libya.
The minimum exploration work commitment will involve geological
studies, seismic acquisition, and 13 exploration wells over six
years. Included in the work commitment is a three-year feasibility
study for the development of a remote field in the Murzuq Basin.
This study includes an option to negotiate an agreement for the
appraisal and development of this remote field within a further
three years.
Woodside has a 45 per cent interest in the exploration and production sharing
agreement, Repsol 35 per cent, and Hellenic Petroleum 20 per cent. Woodside is operator.
The three companies have also agreed to work together on marketing
commercial quantities of gas that might be discovered.
The cost of the joint venture’s total work program with the
Libyan National Oil Corporation is over US$100 million with Woodside’s
average yearly expenditure over this period expected to be about
US$8 million.
Woodside’s New Ventures Director, Agu Kantsler, said the
agreement was another step in Woodside’s strategy of building
a balanced portfolio across the key focus regions of Australia,
the United States and Africa.
“This is the culmination of a long-term engagement of the
Libyan National Oil Corporation and we are delighted to be the first
Australian energy company to be welcomed into Libya since the normalisation
of diplomatic relations between our two countries in mid-2002,”
Dr Kantsler said.
“Libya is one of the world’s most prolific oil and
gas provinces with proven reserves of about 29.5 billion barrels
of oil and 46.4 trillion cubic feet of gas.
“This agreement will provide Woodside and its partners with
access to 20,000sqkm of highly attractive acreage with excellent
oil and gas potential in two basins which, together, have an undiscovered
potential of 35 billion barrels.”
Dr Kantsler said several of the world’s major international
oil and gas companies, including Repsol, Agip of Italy, Total of
France, Wintershall of Germany, and Petro-Canada are active in Libya.
Repsol YPF and RWE of Germany have also recently been awarded new
exploration contracts.
“We are delighted to be joined by Repsol and Hellenic Petroleum
in this venture, particularly as they bring their significant presence
in the European energy market and their experience in Libya,”
he said.
“Libya has significant remaining and undiscovered potential
and we are confident that this agreement will enable us to add value
to our portfolio of exploration prospects for drilling from 2005.
“This move is a logical extension of our North African activities
and is consistent with our exploration strategy.”
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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