By John Hamilton.
London, 3 October 2012:
Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach may become the first international company to announce a discovery from oil exploration started . . .[restrict]after the fall of the Qaddafi regime.
According to source close to the company, quoted in local media, the company has made its third discovery at Area 65 in the Ghadames Basin.
Sonatrach made two discoveries in the area in 2009 and 2010.
A company spokesman hade previously told the Algerian media that it planned to spud its fifth exploration well in June of this year.
Neither the company itself nor National Oil Corporation has confirmed that this well resulted in a discovery. It normally takes some time for discoveries to be announced as they have to be tested and approved and the data released by the NOC.
Sonatrach have been one of the most eager companies to get back into Libya since the revolution. Senior executives put in a lot of work earlier this year to rebuild links with the NOC in the context of the generally bad relations between the two countries thanks to Algeria’s support for the old regime and its decision to shelter members of the exiled Qaddafi family.
John Hamilton is a contributing editor at African Energy, http://www.africa-energy.com/, and is the author of Libya’s Energy Future, http://tinyurl.com/bpows3u. [/restrict]
