Tripoli, 7 June:
Algerian state oil and gas company Sonatrach will resume the drilling operations in Libya by the end of June . . .[restrict]according to an Algerian energy sector official. The company stopped work during the uprising last year.
Sonatrach has exploration rights in the Ghadames Basin, near the Libyan, Algerian and Tunisian borders. The official, who asked not to be named, said that the company would begin drilling a fifth well in area 65.
Last month, Sonatrach said it would return to Libya and start drilling the well, one of two blocks it has in the Ghadames basin, but no date was given. The previous month, Libya’s NOC announced that the Algerian operator had discovered oil and gas in Upper Memouniat in block 65. The oil rate is put at 1,290 b/d.
BP which also has concessions in the Ghadames Basin, likewise announced last month that it would be resuming operations in Libya. It plans to drill five exploratory wells in the area. It also has offshore concessions and plans to 12 well in the Gulf of Sirte. [/restrict]
