By Sami Zaptia.
London, 21 December 2020:
Libya’s Sirte Oil Company achieved new and unprecedented crude oil production which exceeded 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) comparing with an average rate of 55,000 bpd, an increase that exceeded its production by nearly double before the oil blockade at the beginning of this year.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) reported that his unprecedented increase, reached on Thursday (17 December) was reached in a record time. The production rate was achieved after the implementation of the approved exceptional budget programmes.
This programme includes the work over of 24 oil wells, the conversion of the artificial lift methods from gas lift to the installation of electric submersible pumps, and the implementation of the development programme for the El-Harach layer in South Zelten by drilling nine development wells in addition to executing rig-less wells interventions, including activation by acidization, hydraulic fracturing, and some other restoration activities.
Chairman of the NOC Mustafa Sanalla thanked all those who contributed to this great work of doubling production and increasing Libya’s income in a very short time, despite the reduction of the Libyan Central Bank ( CBL ) to the budgets needed by the NOC to run the sector, the low level of services, the scarcity of financial resources, and the suspension of training programs, but the company’s workers have withstood and performed an extraordinary job, and their only motivation was high patriotism and their love for their homeland and their affiliation with the oil sector.
The NOC pointed out that the budget spent for the implementation of these programmes was recovered and the capital spent on the production enhancement was achieved and returned in less than thirty days. It added that this confirms that investment in the oil sector is one of the most important projects in terms of profitability and economic feasibility.
The NOC said it had presented an integrated programme for the Libyan state during the month of September 2019 and an integrated plan to increase the production capacity of the oil and gas sector, which was approved in October 2019. The concerned companies began implementing this plan with their operations, but they were partially affected by the closure of oil fields and terminals and the Corona pandemic.
The NOC said that in spite of that, and as soon as the oil fields and terminals were reopened, the positive results of these programmes began to be evident in increasing production rates, the increase of production at SOC is evidence of that.
