BP PLC (BP) expects its deepwater drilling activities in Libya to begin by November, after initially planning to begin operation in October, Libya's top oil official told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the Oil & Money Conference in London.
BP PLC (BP) expects its deepwater drilling activities in Libya to begin by November, after initially planning to begin operation in October, Libya 's top oil official told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the Oil & Money Conference in London .

Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya 's National Oil Corp., said the drilling activities were delayed as BP is now taking extra care in planning operations following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Ghanem told Dow Jones Newswires in August he expected BP to start drilling in Libya 's Gulf of Sirte by October at the latest.

A BP spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires the company had always planned to start drilling operations in Libya by the end of the year and its plans remain unchanged. He declined to comment on whether precaution over safety issues had affected the schedule for drilling.

BP is due to drill at least five wells in the Gulf of Sirte , at depths greater than the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico , which has raised worries about a similar ecological disaster.

BP and the Libyan authorities have said they have the resources to deal with a medium-sized spill, and if a larger incident did occur BP has a contract with the world's biggest oil spill response center, based in Southampton , U.K. , should its services be required.

Libya is already a major oil producer, but the bulk comes from onshore or shallow-water facilities.

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