Eni has confirmed that Mellitah Oil & Gas, the Joint Venture operating company (NOC 50%, Eni 50%) in Libya, has restarted today gas production from the offshore platform of Sabratha.
Production will start at 4-5 Million cubic meters per day and will gradually increase to reach 11-13 Mcmd during the month of November, during which time all 15 wells on the platform will be progressively reopened. Additional production will also be added when the subsea wells are put on stream in 2012.
The gas volumes will be processed at the Mellitah treatment plant complex and then shipped to Italy via the Greenstream pipeline, which was re-opened on October 13th, 2011.
Greenstream is the longest underwater pipeline ever laid in the Mediterranean Sea: it has a diameter of 32", is 520 kilometers long and crosses the sea at the depth of 1,127 meters.
The Greenstream project (Libyan Gas Transmission System - LGTS) is part of the Western Libyan Gas Project and includes the Mellitah Compressor Station on the Libyan coast, the underwater gas pipeline and the Reception Terminal at Gela, in Sicily.
Construction of the pipeline began in August 2003; laying activities lasted for about six months and were concluded in February 2004. When fully operational, Greenstream will transmit 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
Construction of Greenstream was commited by Saipem, an Eni company
The Sabratha platform is located in the Mediterranean Sea, 110km North West of Tripoli, and produces gas from the Bahr Essalam field, one of the largest fields in Libya.
It is also an important source of gas supply for the Greenstream pipeline and to the local gas consumption in Libya.
Production was shut down last February due to the conflict in Libya.
The restart of gas production from the offshore platform of Sabratha is another important step in progressively restoring production activities in all fields in Libya.
Furthermore, it is the result of the excellent cooperation between NOC and Eni and a major milestone reached thanks to NOC and Eni's strong commitment to bring greater energy security to Libya and Italy.
