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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 28 October 2019:
Egyptian oil companies are to resume their suspended oil projects in Libya, Libya’s state National Oil Corporation (NOC) reported today.
The revelation came after NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla met with Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tariq Al-Mulla, and senior officials of the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, in Cairo yesterday.
The meeting was held to further mutual cooperation between the NOC, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, and Egyptian oil companies, the NOC reported.
Al-Mulla stressed the importance of enhancing Libyan-Egyptian cooperation and emphasised Egyptian companies’ aspirations to resume work in Libya. The Minister also confirmed that Egyptian oil companies have been directed by the Ministry to return to doing business and to proceed with currently-suspended projects in Libya.
The NOC chairman briefed the Egyptian attendees on the NOC’s plans to increase oil and gas production in Libya, and invited Egyptian oil companies to contribute to the implementation of these plans both technically and commercially. Sanalla also commended Egyptian state-owned enterprise Petrojet, which previously completed the Wafa oilfield pipeline in western Libya.
The NOC also reported that both parties discussed mutual cooperation in the fields of drilling, maintenance of infrastructure, and rehabilitation of fields, as well as the completion of previously-contracted projects which are currently suspended. Projects to be resumed include a Petrojet contract to build a gas transmission pipeline from Intisar oil field to Sarir power plant, which is run by General Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, an independent commercial company.
The NOC said that the Cairo visit is one of a number of high-profile trips the NOC chairman and other senior staff have recently made to Washington, Moscow, Algeria and Cairo which have sought to lay the groundwork for the development of Libyan oil sector infrastructure and production capacity, to boost the Libyan economy.
