OREANDA-NEWS. On 28 February 2008 was announced, that PGNiG S.A. is intensifying its exploration and production activities in Libya. Over the next six years, the Company will invest at least US$ 108 mln. in the exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil. 

On Monday, February 25th 2008, Polish Oil&Gas Company-Libya B.V. (POGC-Libya B.V.), a subsidiary of PGNiG S.A., signed the Exploration and Production Sparing Agreement (EPSA) with the Libyan state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).

National Oil Corporation also signed the Production Sharing Agreement with Polskie Gуrnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A.

The Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) covers the area of Licence 113 within the Murzuq Basin. PGNiG S.A. acquired this licence in December 2007, in the 4th Round of the Public Tender for the exploration and production of natural gas.

Block No. 113, with an area of 5,494 km2, is situated at the borderline between the Murzuq and Gadamesh Basins, close to the Algerian border. Main prospects there are structural and stratigraphic traps in Ordovician, Devonian and Carboniferous clastic rocks, where natural gas deposits are expected to be discovered.

POGC-Libya B.V. undertook to implement a minimum work programme for the total amount of USD 108m, including:
3m000km of 2D seismic
1,500km2 of 3D seismic
8 drilling wells.

 The Agreement was signed by Mr Jacek Gutowski, Managing Director of POGC-Libya B.V., and Mr Filip Moczydіowski, Deputy Managing Director of POGC-Libya B.V., on behalf of the Polish party, and Dr Shokri Ghanem, President of NOC, on behalf of the Libyan party.

The Agreement with the Libyan party is the coping stone of the work performed to date to obtain access to Libyan hydrocarbon resources. Under the Agreement, PGNiG, acting through a branch of its subsidiary, POGC-Libya B.V., has become the operator of the block, thus obtaining the rights to conduct exploration work and have a share in future production from this block, which is highly prospective, as attested to by both natural gas deposits located in the vicinity, and announcements of further new discoveries made in the area of this oil basin.

Signing the EPSA with the Libyan partner is an evidence of PGNiG's intense activity in the exploration of hydrocarbon deposits outside the territory of Poland. It is also an element of the Company's broader strategy.