Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of Libya's internationally recognized National Oil Corporation (NOC), held meetings with U.S. companies at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston this week, to discuss US$60 billion worth of procurement contracts necessary to more than double Libyan oil production by 2023.
Libya, which currently pumps around 1 million bpd in a fragile security situation, plans to have its crude oil production grow to 2.1 million bpd by 2023. Sanalla met this week with the top executives of several U.S. companies to "discuss the technology and expertise needed to achieve the corporation's stated production target," NOC says.
Sanalla met with Mikhail Potekhin, Caterpillar's EMEA director, to take stock of Caterpillar's operations in the North African OPEC producer. The managers discussed a US$150-million contract for Caterpillar's subsidiary Solar Turbines for power generation equipment, and potential future cooperation and projects with NOC operating companies.
NOC's chairman also met with John Wallace, chairman and chief executive officer at petroleum consulting company DeGolyer and MacNaughton, to discuss possible cooperation and study of Libyan field reservoirs, field development, reserves evaluation, and overall technical assistance to NOC's subsidiaries.
At yet another meeting, Sanalla met with Halliburton's President and CEO Jeff Miller to discuss Halliburton's scheduled resumption of offshore and onshore activity in Libya and potential further closer cooperation, NOC said in a statement, without specifying when Halliburton would resume drilling in Libya.
Libya's long-term plans are to double its oil production within four years, but its immediate output may be threatened as the security situation has materially worsened after eastern strongman General Khalifa Haftar ordered last month his Libyan National Army (LNA) to march on the capital Tripoli. The self-styled army has been clashing with troops of the UN-backed government in a renewed confrontation that could escalate and threaten to disrupt, once again, Libya's oil production and exports.
Sanalla said at the Houston conference on Wednesday that "the Tripoli assault and ongoing hostilities are a direct threat to Libyan oil sector development and procurement."
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
With time and lots of money, it will take Libya with estimated proven reserves of 48 billion barrels of oil (bb), the largest in Africa and low production costs at least 10 years to raise its oil production to 2.1 mbd provided stability is irrevocably restored to the country and foreign oil majors get involved by providing the latest oil technology and the investments needed on the basis of attractive production-sharing agreements
Libya is considered a highly attractive oil area due to its low cost of oil production, and proximity to European markets. Libya's challenge is maintaining production at mature fields, while finding and developing new oil fields. Most of Libya remains unexplored.
Libya has been irrelevant to the global oil market since the civil war in 2011. Whether it will ever return to the market as a major player will probably lie further in the future.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London