Libya is going to conduct maintenance at its gas fields starting from the first week of April, the National Oil Corporation said.
Mellitah Oil and Gas, or MOG, a joint venture between NOC and Italy’s Eni, had originally planned the maintenance at its gas fields and processing complex for late February.
However, it was delayed due to continued cold weather across much of Europe, since the planned shutdown of gas fields and the Mellitah gas complex would impact Libya’s gas exports through the Greenstream pipeline to Italy.
Sources in Libya said the maintenance schedule covers the closure of the onshore Wafa field for around a week, along with the offshore Sabratha platform and Mellitah gas complex for 10 to 15 days. As a result of the complex closure, green stream to Italy will also be offline.
Gas from Bahr Essalam and the onshore Wafa field is transported from compression facilities at Mellitah, around 100 km west of Tripoli, through the Greenstream pipeline to Sicily.
The maintenance program is part of plans to integrate gas production from a new phase of development at the offshore Bahr Essalam gas field by mid-March. The field, which sits about 110 km off the Libyan coast, is operated by Mellitah. Greenstream is another Eni and NOC joint venture.
The Bahr Essalam field was brought on stream in 2005 and produces 995 MMcf/d of gas, along with 36,000 b/d of condensates. These are partially treated at an offshore platform before being sent to the onshore Mellitah gas complex for further treatment. Gas is then sent to Libya’s domestic network and exported to Italy through Greenstream.
