Waha Oil Company (WOC)

=Snapshot=

Tripoli-based Waha Oil Company (WOC) is a Joint Venture (JV) shared between US international oil companies Hess, ConocoPhillips and Marathon. In 2011, ff all of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) subsidiaries, Waha was the largest oil producer. It was also the second biggest oil producer in Libya.

As of early 2011, the company employed 3,200 staff.

=History=

The company which would become the WOC was established in 1955 and began operations on Libyan soil in 1956 as the Oasis Oil Company. . However in 1986 the Waha Oil Company itself was established.

The WOC was one of the companies most adversely affected by the US embargo imposed in 1986, as its oil fields were equipped mainly using US equipment, for which the WOC could not acquired spare parts. As a result, production at the company's giant Waha field fell sharply from around 1 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) at its peak in the late 1960s, to to around 350,000-370,000 bpd in 2008. In December 2005 however, the former Oasis Group (Amerada Hess, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon) reached an agreement with Libya on a return to the country for the first time since 1986 and agreed to pay Libya $1.8 billion to return to its acreage in the Sirte basin. The NOC subsequently held a 59.16 percent stake, leaving ConocoPhillips and Marathon with 16.33 percent each, and Amerada Hess with 8.16 percent.

While from 2008 onwards many international companies operating in Libya were forced to renegotiate their contracts with the NOC, there are no reports that the Waha Group had renegotiated terms and aligned with the new EPSA IV framework by the time that conflict broke out in 2011.

Following the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the WOC was plagued by protests prompted by workers demanding the dismissal of Chairman Elshahab, who was allegedly close to the Gaddafi regime. The strike ended in November 2011 when Ahmed Amar was named as new Chairman of the JV.

=Activities=



Prior to the Libyan revolution in 2011, Waha Oil produced more than 350,000 bpd (up to 400,000 bpd by some estimates) In addition to operating the oil fields under its control, the WOC also handles large quantities of oil for a number of companies through its pipelines running from the Sirte Basin to the Es Sider terminal.

During the 2011 conflict there was some damage to workers' accommodation at Waha sites, compounded by fears that mines could have been planted there However in January 2012 Chairman Amar said that by the end of the month WOC should reach pre-war production once again.

=External Links=

Official website: www.wahaoil.net

=References=