By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 5 February 2017:
Austria oil company OMV is looking to increase its activities in Libya and its CEO Rainer Seele was in Tripoli last week for talks on the issue with National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Mustafa Sanalla.
The meeting also covered technical studies to increase oil reserves, sustainable development and environmental issues.
It is the second time in just over a week that NOC and OMV have been in discussions about the Austrian company’s operations in Libya. Sanalla met leading OMV officials in London on 23 January and the invitation to Seele to visit Tripoli is believed to have been made then.
The London meeting was one of a series that Sanalla held with international oil companies on increasing production in Libya.
“This high-level visit to Tripoli is a tangible a sign of OMV’s seriousness and highlights improvements in certain aspects of the Libyan situation,” an NOC press statement quoted Sanalla saying.
“Our major export routes are all open and we are expanding production. We all hope we will be able to build on this foundation,” he added.
The statement also confirmed earlier reports that OMV had bought out Occidental Petroleum’s seven-percent stake in the Nafoura oil field in eastern Libya, near Jalu. Occidental and OMV developed the field in partnership with the NOC’s Arabian Gulf Oil Company as the majority stakeholder. The field itself has estimated reserves of 7.5 million barrels and restarted production after the reopening of Zueitina oil terminal in September. Prior to the terminal’s closure in November 2015, it was producing 20,000 b/d. Before to the revolution, production was much higher.
