Repsol Energy announced that it will resume in the Al-Sharara oil field after Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has lifted force majeure from the field, which was shut down three weeks ago.
Al-Sharara is operated by Akakus, a joint venture of the Libyan National Oil Corporation, in partnership with Repsol, TotalEnergies, OMV and Equinor. It is one of the largest oilfields located in the Murzuq Basin, with a production capacity of nearly 300,000 barrels of oil per day. Libya’s politically unstable climate has been a major reason behind multiple production disruptions in the oilfield.
Repsolexpects Al-Sharara’s output to increase to 260,000 barrels of oil per day in the upcoming days. It holds stakes in the blocks NC115 and NC186, positioned 7000 kilometers south of Tripoli. Al-Sharara has oil accumulations in the blocks NC115 and NC186.
Repsol has highlighted its plans to restart exploration and production activities in Libya in April. The company has scheduled to drill up to six exploration wells in the NC115 and NC186 licenses, in the current year.
Repsol began E&P activities in Libya in the 1960s. Oil production in block NC115 started in 1996, while the same for NC186 began in 2003.