The Libyan Oil and Gas Ministry has stated that the correspondence between the National Oil Corporation and the Waha Oil Company regarding the development of the Dahra oil field did not indicate that Esnad, the company responsible for the work, was a Libyan company.
The ministry added that most of the consultative meetings with the company were held in the UAE, and the presence of a company with that name there “made it clear to them that the company was Emirati,” according to a statement by the ministry on Tuesday. Last Friday, the National Oil Corporation issued a statement denying that it had “contracted with a UAE company” to develop the Dahra field, confirming that Esnad was entrusted with the task, and that it was a “Libyan company registered in Benghazi”.
The NOC’s denial comes in response to what it described as “some misleading rumors circulating about the development of the field,” which is considered the first commercially produced oil field discovered by the Waha Oil Company in the late 1950s.
The Oil Ministry welcomes all companies
“Despite all of this, the ministry welcomes all companies and confirms that it would have been more appropriate to call upon all local and international companies and not to limit it to one company, and this is the objection to the procedure, as opening the field for direct appointment of contractors and executing companies exposes the sector to deviating from the principle of transparency and disclosure that has been accepted in the sector since its establishment,” the ministry statement added.
Regarding leaving the Dahra field destroyed and out of production for a period of time, the ministry explained, “We would like to draw attention to the fact that the Waha company made significant efforts in this regard, as it formed a dedicated committee to assess the damage and establish the necessary program to rehabilitate it, and began implementing the necessary infrastructure projects to rehabilitate it, despite the lack of budgets and security conditions, in preparation for resuming the development plan according to the studies prepared.”
The ministry continued, “For the record, the ministry, since assuming its duties, has written to the NOC requesting the start of exploration, development, and maintenance operations for Libyan fields, but unfortunately has not received a response,” confirming its focus on technical work and following “transparency and performance standards as stipulated by the laws and regulations,” distancing itself from what it described as “enthusiastic rhetoric and questioning anyone with a dissenting opinion supported by the law, regulations, and applicable legislation.”