The oil find was made in the J1 well on exploration block 186, which covers an area of 4,300 square kilometres in the Sahara desert.
This is the sixth commercial oil find in this block, and the production test demonstrated over 4,500 barrels of oil per day with the help of an electric pump. To determine the size and extent of the find, several appraisal wells will be drilled.
The find lies approximately 15 kilometres from the installations on the producing A/D field in Block 186 and will be straightforward to connect to this.
The A and D fields currently produce 48,000 barrels per day. The field development plan for the B field, which lies between the A and D field, is currently undergoing approval by the authorities, and the field development plan for the H field will be submitted this fall.
Earlier this autumn the I-find was proven, and this discovery has already been appraised with a well showing positive results. The operator plans to appraise I and J in 2005/2006 and submit field development plans for both finds during 2006.
| Partners in NC 186: | |
| National Oil Corporation (NOC) | 60.0 % |
| Norsk Hydro | 8.0 % |
| Repsol YPF (operator) | 12.8 % |
| Total | 9.6 % |
| OMV | 9.6 % |
Facts about licence NC-186 A-field: Found in November 2000, production start in October 2003 and now producing 25,000 barrels per day. D-field: Found in November 2001, production start August 2004 and now producing 23,000 barrels per day. Export solution: After processing, the oil is transported through a pipeline to the El Sharara field nearby, and from there through a common pipeline to the refinery and export terminal Az Zawiyah on the Mediterranean coast. |