OMV, Repsol Bank On Libya To Hit Optimistic Output Targets

17 May 2019 Issue: 62 / 20 By: James Cockayne

European firms OMV and Repsol have factored in near-uninterrupted Libyan output in a bid to hit their corporate 2019 output targets. This looks optimistic.

Spain’s Repsol and Austria’s OMV are key foreign partners at Libya’s 300,000 b/d-capacity Sharara concession. Here output was shut in following a series of attacks late last year, only restarting in early March (MEES, 8 March). The facilities again came under rocket fire on 29 April, whilst output was previously shut in due to rocket attacks last July (MEES, 3 August 2018), and before that for more than two years to early 2017.

So only a blind optimist would bank on uninterrupted output for the remainder of 2019. But hope springs eternal. Both OMV and Repsol in their recent Q1 results material, factor in near-uninterrupted Libya output for the remainder of 2019: a position seemingly based on a desire to maintain their overall 2019 output targets rather than any Libya-specific cause for optimism. (CONTINUED - 1177 WORDS)