New Operator of Libyan Oilfields
On 28 October, Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft (WIAG), a joint venture between Gazprom EP International and Wintershall DEA, transferred operatorship of Contract Areas 91 (former Concession 96) and 107 (former Concession 97) in the onshore Sirte Basin to Sarir Oil Operations (SOO), a newly established joint operating company with the National Oil Corporation. After the signing of two Exploration and Production Sharing Agreements (EPSAs) in December 2019, WIAG had continued to transitionally operate the fields while SOO was being established and prepared to assume operational responsibility. The vast majority of WIAG’s Libyan personnel has been transferred to SOO and will continue to work in their previous roles. Oil production in the fields located in Contract Areas 91 and 107 has been suspended since mid-January 2020 due to the blockades of the export infrastructure. Although the coronavirus pandemic and the conflict in Libya have posed additional significant challenges during the past months, NOC and WIAG are nonetheless convinced that, as a result of a comprehensive and diligent transitional process, SOO has successfully been enabled to operate the fields in a reliable manner and in accordance with good oilfield practices.
BACKGROUND
Gazprom EP International is Gazprom’s operator of E&P projects abroad. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Company operates in two dozens of countries across three continents and is involved in almost 40 projects of varying magnitude.
Wintershall DEA is Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company is headquartered in Kassel and Hamburg. Wintershall DEA operates in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa).
From 1958 onward, Wintershall DEA has been involved in crude oil E&P operations in Libya. WIAG, an affiliate, has since 1966 discovered, developed, and exploited nine oilfields in two Sirte concessions nearly a thousand km southeast of the national capital, Tripoli, in Al Wahat district. Brought onstream in 1988, the largest hydrocarbon reservoir wAs-Sarah is nearby the Jahira oasis.
Gazprom EP International has been a 49% shareholder of WIAG since 2008.
