By Friedrich Geiger
FRANKFURT--Austria's OMV AG (OMV.VI) said Monday it has
discovered oil in Libya with its partners Repsol SA (REP.MC) of
Spain and Total SA (FP.FR) of France.
The oil discovery is the first in Libya by OMV and its partners
since the revolution in 2011. Repsol has a 40% stake in the project
while OMV and Total both have 30% stakes.
The discovery was made in the Murzuq Basin, 800 kilometers south
of the capital Tripoli. Drilling started in May 2013 and is
expected to last until the end of 2015.
"This discovery in Libya confirms the potential of the country
for OMV's upstream activities," said Jaap Huijskes, OMV executive
board member for exploration and production
The oil and gas company has been present in Libya since 1975 and
started production in 1985. In 2012, OMV produced 29,500 barrels of
oil equivalent per day in the north African country.
In September, OMV said it had discovered up to 164 million
barrels of oil in the Barents Sea, and the license area in which
the find was made could hold up to 500 million barrels. The
discovery 310 kilometers north of Hammerfest in northern Norway is
expected to hold between 63 million and 164 million barrels of
recoverable oil, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said.
OMV plans to increase its total output to 350,000 barrels of oil
equivalent per day by 2016.
--Kjetil Malkenes Hovland contributed to this article.
Write to Friedrich Geiger at friedrich.geiger@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires