The National Oil Corporation (NOC) announces that the newly established joint operating company Sarir Oil Operations (SOO) assumes operatorship on the Contract Areas 91 and 107 (previously 96 and 97) which used to be operated by the German company Wintershall. The SOO was recently established as a joint-venture company owned by the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Wintershall Company (WIAG).

An EPSA Agreement was signed as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was approved in 2010. The National Oil Corporation then commenced negotiations with Wintershall Company to implement this MoU. These negotiations took thirty months of continuous discussions and finally reached a successful version of EPSA on December 12, 2019.

Operations during the last few months were under the supervision of Wintershall for the purpose of finalizing the official establishment and registration requirements of Sarir Oil Operations. By this date most of the employees were transferred to Sarir Oil Operations in order to continue conducting the Company’s activity.

On this occasion, Mustafa Sanalla, NOC Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated that it was our pleasure to see the launch of Sarir Oil Operations business which will be added to the existing operating companies in the oil and gas sector. He added; we would also like to thank and congratulate all who contributed to finalizing this work under these difficult circumstances that our country goes through. We wish the Company all the best in performing its business as stipulated in the frame of EPSA Agreement.

Production is initially 30,000 barrels a day, but with a capacity of about 200,000, it’s the biggest deposit in the country to restart since an almost-total shutdown of Libyan energy facilities in January.

KeyFacts Energy: NOC Libya country profile