Total (24%) and partners Repsol YPF (operator), OMV and Saga have made a new oil discovery in Libya’s Block NC 186. Well I-1, drilled in the Murzuq Basin 800 kilometers south of Tripoli, reached a total depth of 1,700 metres and found a significant oil column in the Mamuniyat sandstone formation.

During production testing, the well flowed at a rate up to 2,060 barrels per day of 40° API oil. It is the fifth discovery made in this block.

Two of the four discoveries in NC 186 have come on stream over the last two years with a combined production of 45,000 barrels of oil per day. The field development plan for the third discovery has been submitted to the Libyan National Oil Company for approval, while the field development plan for the latest discovery is currently under preparation.

Crude oil production in the Murzuq Basin started end 1996 from the adjacent El Sharara fields in block NC 115 which produce around 200,000 barrels per day of sweet light oil and in which Total holds a 30% stake in the foreign consortium.

The latest discovery strengthens Total’s position in Libya, where the Group is operator of the Al Jurf offshore field (40,000 barrels per day), and of the Mabruk field (15,000 barrels per day) in the western part of the Sirte Basin. In addition, the Group is exploring in the Murzuq and Sirte Basins.