Libya’s NOC and Wintershall reach deal
Libya
TRIPOLI, June 14, 2017 – Wintershall and Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) have taken steps to resolve their dispute over a Presidential Council resolution, allowing for a restart of operations at the German company’s concession areas.
According to NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla, production at NC 96 and 97 will be restarted today. Work was resumed at the Abu Attifel field on Tuesday. In comments to Reuters, a Wintershall representative confirmed the interim arrangement with NOC.
Last month, Sanalla accused Wintershall and the UN-backed government in Tripoli of having over-reached in an attempt to exert control over the NOC’s contract terms.
He made his comments in reference to President Council resolution 270, unveiled in March. He alleged that the document was drafted “by Wintershall and designed to help Wintershall.”
According to the NOC chief, the resolution had helped Wintershall dodge its 2010 contractual obligations, which were designed to bring the German company’s original contract terms in line with the ones agreed upon with other IOCs. This would then have allowed the government to reap greater rewards from oil production in the country.
In its Tuesday statement, NOC said the deal “allocates to Wintershall an amount of production sufficient to cover its costs, with all remaining production being allocated to NOC.”
The Abu Attifel field is expected to add between 50,000 bopd and 60,000 bopd to Libya’s output, currently estimated at 830,000 bopd. With resumption of operations at concession areas NC 96 and 97, production is expected to hit 1 million bopd towards the end of July.
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