Libya: Repsol YPF makes a "significant" oil discovery

SPAIN'S Repsol YPF has made a "significant" oil discovery in the country – its sixth in the prolific Murzuq basin's Block NC186. The find – which flowed a substantial 4,650 barrels a day (b/d) of "high-quality oil" during testing – comes just weeks after a host of international operators battled it out for exploration rights in the second upstream auction under Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement-4 (Epsa-4) terms. Like the first Epsa-4 round, which took place in January 2005, the event was deemed a success, with 23 of the 26 contract areas awarded, mainly to Asian and European firms. With upstream success on the scale seen in Block NC186, a 4,300 square km area 800 km south of Tripo