Tatneft looking to resume prospecting work in Libya within year's time
MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) - Russian oil company Tatneft's resumption of prospecting work in Libya will depend on the return of oilfield services companies to the country, the company's senior geologist and deputy chief, Rais Khisamov, told the press.
"At this point service companies have not all come, so we're waiting for the start of work in the coming year," Khisamov said.
Prior to resuming prospecting efforts in Libya, Tatneft will need to do a lot of other work, particularly holding tenders to find service companies.
Asked what other international projects are of interest to Tatneft, Khisamov said that the company is not planning to expand the geography of its operations for the next year or two. "We have very many projects in Russia - shale oil, bituminous oil, and the Taneco plant," he said.
Tatneft employees returned to Tripoli in February, and the company had expected to resume operations in the country this year. Tatneft was forced to halt exploration in February 2011 due to the revolution in Libya. All wells that were at the exploration drilling or development stage were capped.
In its report to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the third quarter, Tatneft said it was hard to say when operations in the country might resume.
