Tatneft employees return to Libya
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - Russian employees of a Tatneft affiliate returned to Libya in mid-March, occupying their permanent work positions in Tripoli, Tatneft said in its financial report.
Tatneft held talks in mid-January with top management at Libya's National Oil Corp. (NOC), to discuss ways to unwind the force-majeure circumstances and have the affiliate resume work in Libya in full.
According to the report, Tatneft sent out official letters announcing the conclusion of the force-majeure period and a resumption of its affiliate's operations in Libya.
However, a source at Tatneft told Interfax that it was too early to speak of a resumption of work in Libya.
The employees are still busy settling in, he said. "For now no actual work is being conducted," he said when asked when geological exploration work would commence.
The Tatneft affiliate operates in Libya under a production-sharing agreement with NOC. The exploration territory covers 18,181 square kilometers in central Libya.
Tatneft suspended its exploration work in February 2011 owing to the revolution in Libya. All of the wells were mothballed.
Nonetheless, according to the financials, Tatneft booked 74 million rubles in exploration expenses in Libya in 2012, including 56.9 million rubles on exploration drilling and 1.3 million rubles for an appraisal well. Administrative and business expenses in Libya totaled 82.3 million rubles in 2012, according to the report.