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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 8 May 2020:
Libya’s state National Oil Corporation (NOC) subsidiaries and Repsol Consortium have reached the final stages of an ambitious study to recover LPG (used in Libya for domestic gas cylinders) contained in flare gas in the Sharara oil field.
The NOC said that this domestic gas will then be made available to residents in Southern Libya at its legal price. Southern Libya has been cut off to a large extent from supplies of domestic gas coming from the north as a result of the Khalifa Hafter-led Libyan National Army war on Tripoli. When they could get them, domestic gas cylinders that should have retailed at the official price of LD 3 were costing households anything up of LD 60 in the south.
The NOC said that capturing flare gas and putting it to good use will reduce the levels of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere at the Sharara oil field and reduce waste.
“Of course, there are significant environmental advantages for this project,” said NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla. “But just as importantly, it will provide affordable cooking gas for citizens in the south who have been suffering since the start of this conflict.
The situation in the south is unacceptable. The ongoing fighting and unrest are preventing us from sending regular convoys of gas from depots in the north, so we have to look for a more viable solution that benefits people and the environment”, he added.
The NOC said that talks with providers of the technology have reached the final stages. The new technology will allow the separation of LPG from flare gas in a cost-effective way. The project is estimated to take about 18 months to complete, reported the NOC.
