Spanish oil company Repsol YPF has confirmed an oil find in well A2 on exploration block NC186 in the Murzuq Basin in Libya. Hydro holds a 20 percent stake in the acreage.
Well A2, the third drilled by Repsol on block NC186, found "a significant oil column" in the middle Ordovician sandstone in the Hawaz formation. Flow rates up to 2,670 barrels of oil per day, with a 64/64 inch choke on natural flow, have been reported from the well.
Repsol YSF is the operator for exploration blocks NC186, NC187 and NC190, all in the Murzuq Basin, on behalf of a group comprising the National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya, and three European companies: Hydro, Austria's OMV and TotalFinaElf.
Crude oil production from the Murzuq Basin started in December 1996 on the giant El-Sharara fields, located in nearby block NC115. Well A2, on block NC186, is located just 20 kilometers from the El-Sharara field facilities, which have the capacity to process and export additional oil production.