Royal Dutch Shell is quitting operations Libya for the time being, amid concerns over security and the economic viability of further investment, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.
The move casts a cloud over Libya’s recovering oil industry, which has seen production flows reach the cusp of pre-war levels but the foreign oil expertise required to sustain, regenerate and develop the industry return only gingerly.
Shell “intends to suspend and abandon drilled wells and stop exploration in [its] Libyan licenses,” a company spokesman said, confirming an internal e-mail seen by Dow Jones Newswires.
The Shell spokesman said exploration “results [prior to the war] have been disappointing and further exploration cannot be economically justified,” he told Dow Jones.
The company says this is “not a company exit,” and while staff were being let go, Shell would keep with office in the country and remain in touch with oil officials to explore business opportunities.
According to its website, Shell holds interests in the Area 89, NC211-215, NC211-C and NC212 blocks onshore Libya, and was drilling two wells in the country before the civil war last year.
