By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 18 September 2013:
Speaking yesterday at the opening of the CWC Libya Forum on oil and gas, NOC chairman . . .[restrict]Nurri Berruien, referring to the oil stoppages that have crippled Libya’s oil production, said that he was “very confident that we will soon overcome these problems and hiccups”.
The NOC chairman further added, addressing the audience made up of sponsors such as ENI, OMV, Repsol, Oxy, RWE, Schlumberger and others that he would like to “assured ” them that Libya was “committed to its contracts despite events”, referring to the oil strikes.
Trying to find a silver lining in the midst of the worse production crises in Libya’s oil sector since production was returned to pre revolution days, Berruien said that since last year’s conference Libya had made a few oil and gas discoveries and that it was in the process of updating the EPSA model and oil law.
Berruien admitted that Libya’s aging oilfields discovered in the mid-1960’s needed upgrading and that its existing refineries also needed upgrading. He also said that Libya needed to build new increased refining capacity. He estimated that this would need an estimated investment of over US$ 60 billion over 6 years probably funded by the NOC.
The NOC chairman also saw opportunities for other refineries and petrochemical projects that could be funded by the private sector.
He also stressed that despite the security situation, that exploration has continued with neary 50 wells being drilled in the last year.
Berruien stressed that the NOC wanted to train local staff to take them up to international standards. He also said that they were dealing with war damage to the environment which he thought would need huge finance and expertise to implement.
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