Punj Lloyd Upstream awarded $42-million Libyan drilling contract

23 September 2008

E&P driller Punj Lloyd Upstream, a subsidiary of Punj Lloyd Ltd today said that it has received a letter of intent from Libya's second largest crude oil producer, Waha Oil Company, for deploying two onshore rigs for $42 million.

Punj Lloyd Upstream Ltd was set up in 2007 to address opportunities in the integrated drilling services market and has an internationally experienced crew of drillers and technicians credited with completing complicated drilling programmes in difficult and diverse terrain.

The contract requires drilling exploratory wells in the Gialo oilfield of the prolific Sirte Basin for Waha Oil Company, which is owned by National Oil Corporation (NOC) in a joint venture with three American companies namely ConocoPhillips, Marathon and Amerada Hess. These companies are now back working as partners since Jan 2006 after having left in 1986 when it was known as Oasis Oil Company.

Waha Oil Company operates four oil fields; the biggest of which is Waha Oil Field. In addition to operating the oil fields under its control, Waha Oil Company also handles large quantities of oil for a number of companies, including Wintershall, Total and Zuietina, through its production lines running from the Sirte Basin to Es-Sider terminal.

Waha is the largest of four desert locations supplying crude oil to the marine terminal at Essider on the coast. The pipeline begins in Gialo field, is routed through Waha and Samah then continues north to Dahra before arriving at Essider.

The total number of drilled oil and gas wells numbers 1,100 of which 800 are productive wells. Waha implements annual programs for developmental, vertical, and horizontal drilling and evaluation of well performance, together with the execution of reservoir and mechanical maintenance to ensure productivity enhancement. Reservoir depths range from 3,000 to 7,500 feet for the developmental wells and 15,000 feet for exploration wells. The deepest well in the Jamahiriya drilled by Waha was 19,210 feet in depth.