Libya's oil
reserves grew by 653 million barrels in 2009 and a further 612 million barrels
in the first half of 2010 after numerous new discoveries in the North African
country, the head of National Oil Corp., or NOC, said Monday.
NOC Chairman Shokri Ghanem told Zawya Dow Jones in an interview that NOC and
international oil companies operating in Libya recorded a success rate of
51% among the 65 newly drilled discovery wells in the country last year that
yielded both oil and gas.
"These discoveries added 653 million barrels in reserves and 782 billion
cubic feet of gas in 2009, and in the first half of 2010 we made even more
discoveries which increased reserves by 612 million barrels and more than 1 trillion
cubic feet of gas," Ghanem said.
"This is more than Libya's
production of the whole year 2009 of 600 million barrels," he said.
The discoveries have pushed Libya's
total proved oil and gas reserves up to about 46 billion barrels and 55
trillion cubic feet respectively, Ghanem said.
Analyst reaction to the news was mixed.
"Libya
has only recently invited international oil companies back to work on
exploration and production and it seems now this is beginning to pay off,"
said Kuwait-based analyst Kamel Al Harami.
However, Energy Quote Chairman John Hall said the news should be met with a
degree of caution unless it is verified by an internationally recognized energy
organization such as BP PLC (BP) or the International Energy Agency.
"There is a big difference between stated and proven reserves--it's easy
to say you have found oil and talk reserves up and historically OPEC members
have talked up their reserves," Hall said.
BP's latest Statistical Review of World Energy figures show Libya's oil reserves were stagnant
from 2008 to 2009 at 44.3 billion barrels. And Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries figures show well completions fell to 151 from 179 during
this period.
Ghanem said the drilling activity also led to the discovery of another 20 new
potential oil wells in neighboring areas.
In 2009, the Oasis Oil Consortium--a group made up of NOC, Marathon Oil Corp.
(MRO), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Hess Corp. (HES)--made six of the 33 oil
discoveries, while Arabian Gulf Oil Co., or AGOCO, which is 100% owned by NOC,
made three discoveries, according to Ghanem.
Other discoveries were made by companies including Turkish Petroleum
International Co., or TPIC, at six discoveries, and Russia's
Tatneft (TATN.RS) and Indonesia's
Medco Energi Internasional, which replaced Canada's Verenex Energy as the
operator of Area 47, which made two discoveries each in partnership with NOC,
he said.
Over the first six months of 2010, Sirte Oil Co., also 100% owned by NOC,
Zueitina Oil Co.--an NOC venture involving Occidental Petroleum Corp.
(OXY)--and Petro-Canada (PCZ) and Algeria's Sonatrach were among the companies
that recorded successes, making one new oil discovery each, Ghanem said.
Ghanem said he expected Libya's
oil reserves to be further boosted in coming months as drilling activity in the
first half of 2010 only represented 40% of this year's total program.
OPEC member Libya holds the
largest proved oil reserves in Africa ahead of Nigeria, according to BP.