By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 17 March 2015:
Italian oil and gas giant Eni has made a significant offshore . . .[restrict]discovery at its Bahr Essalam South exploration prospect, 82 kilometres off the coast.
The find, 22 kilometres from Eni’s already proven field of Bahr Essalam, produced in testing, 29 million square cubic feet of gas per day and above 600 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate.
Fifty million square cubic feet per day of gas and 1,000 bpd of condensate are expected to be produced at the well once production is in its stride. Eni has said the well’s proximity to nearby infrastructure is expected to speed development.
The discovery was made through the Bahr Essalam South’s B1-16/4 well, drilled at a water depth of 150 metres. The Italian multinational runs three exploration drilling rigs in the well’s nearby contract area, which it operates through its subsidiary Eni North Africa BV.
Eni has said: “This exploration success further confirms the enormous potential of Libyan gas resources. The future development of Libyan resources will allow supporting the growth of the domestic consumption and industry, while maintaining Libya’s position as a strategic supplier for Italy and Europe.”
Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi has recently expressed his concern over deteriorating security conditions in the country but said despite the problems operations were continuing as normal. Descalzi said the increasing presence of the Islamic State in Libya was particularly worrying.
Eni started production in 2004 its Wafa and Bahr Essalam fields. It exports the gas, destined for domestic markets and Italy, via the Greenstream pipeline. The energy company has been present in Libya since 1959 and currently produces approximately 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the country.
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