Repsol Makes Oil Discovery in Libya

Repsol YPF has made a new discovery of light crude in the prolific Murzuq basin, in Libya. During production testing, the well had a natural flow of 2,060 barrels per day.

Oil was found at a depth of 1,717 meters, at well I1 in the NC186 exploration block, 800 km. south of Tripoli, in the Sahara desert. Repsol YPF is operator of this block, with a 32% stake, in partnership with the Libyan National Oil Company and three European companies: OMV (Austria), Total (France) and Hydro (Norway).

Block NC186 has a surface area of 4,300 square kilometers and the I1-NC186 is the third well drilled during the second exploration phase at the block, which began in May 2003. The consortium led by Repsol YPF recently announced four other discoveries in this same block, with a preliminary estimate of 400 million barrels of light crude in reserves. Production has started at two of these 4 discoveries in the past two years, reaching 45,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).

Exploration activities at these blocks began in May 1998, once the consortium had been granted exploration and production sharing agreements by the Libyan authorities.

Oil production in the Murzuq basin started in December 1996 at the giant El Sharara fields, situated in block NC115. These fields are operated by Repsol Oil Operations in a consortium with NOC, OMV and Total, which currently produces some 200,000 barrels of excellent quality light sweet crude.

In 2004, Repsol YPF's net production in Libya totaled 7.8 million barrels of oil (21,308 bopd). Net proved oil reserves at the end of that year were estimated at 86.9 Mbo. Repsol Oil Operations is the largest operator in the country, second only to the state-owned company, NOC, and the success achieved in projects and discoveries in Libya has made this one of the most outstanding countries for our company's growth strategy.