Total E&P has announced that it has spud an exploration well at Libya’s A1-16/3 concession, east of the Libyan-Tunisian offshore territorial line in the Pelagian Basin
The well is located 128km northwest from Tripoli and is currently being drilled by rig Zagreb 1, Libya Herald reported. The area is said to be rich in gas and oil reserves.
Drilling at A1-16/3 is expected to last 130 days, but if there is a discovery the rig could stay another month for production tests. It would then move to a second concession A1-16/1, 30 kms northeast of Zuwara for an estimated 146 days, the report added.
The drilling, upto 3,657 metres in the first well and 5,181 metres in the second, is not expected to be easy because of the geology. However, the area around the first concession has already been explored for both oil and gas, while the area around the second well has never been explored.
The cost of the exploration by Total for the two new wells was estimated at around US$120mn to US$130mn last year. Further tests could cost a further US$15mn.
