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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 17 September 2013:
Speaking at the opening of the CWC Libya Forum Oil & Gas conference in Tripoli today, . . .[restrict]Ferdinando Rigardo, Repsol’s Regional Executive Director for Europe, Asia and Africa, said that Libya can produce two million barrels of oil per day in quite a short period of time, but that it had to invest.
‘’With the right technology and investment, Libya can reach 2 million barrels per day – but it needs to invest now and invest heavily’’, Rigardo said. Despite the many challenges North Africa still has many attractive opportunities, he added.
Gas production in Libya has shown strong growth over last decade reaching 900 million cubic feet per day in 2001, Rigardo explained.
The Repsol executive felt that the biggest challenge to gas development in Libya is building exporting facilities especially as these costs would be quite high.
The prospects for unconventional sources of oil in Libya such as shale oil face challenges such as the availability of ample water sources, access to a large number of rigs, and transport infrastructure for marketing.
Ultimately, Rigardo felt, that only if Libya improves its regulatory framework can its unconventional hydrocarbon sector be fully exploited.
The Repsol oil executive felt that there was a need for Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) to align its interests with those of the IOC’s in order to improve development in the Libyan hydrocarbon sector over the next few years.
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