Libya grants Occidental, RWE gas permits-NOC

TRIPOLI Dec 14 (Reuters) - Libya awarded Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) and German utility group RWE (RWEG.DE) licences in the country's first gas-focused exploration licening round, its state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Friday.

Occidental won permits to explore in the blocks 1,2,3 and 4 in the area 103 in Sirte basin, NOC said in a statement on its website.

RWE was granted exploration licences in the blocks 1,2,3 and 4 at the area 58 on Syrenica basin, it added. The initial outcome of Libya's gas licencing round was announced last week but the permits to Occidental and RWE were decided later at ad-hoc meetings because they made single bids, NOC added.

Last Sunday, NOC named Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , Algeria's Sonatrach, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Poland's PGNiG PGNI.WA as winners of permits in competitive bids in its first gas-focused exploration licensing round.

Gazprom was awarded blocs 1, 2 and 3 in contract area 64 in the Ghadames Basin.

Algerian state energy giant Sonatrach won blocks 1, 2 and 3 in contract area 95/96, also in the Ghadames Basin.

Shell picked up blocks 1 and 3 in contract area 89 in the Sirte Basin, while Polish gas monopoly Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA (PGNiG) won blocks 1 and 2 in contract area 113 in the Murzuq basin.

NOC had said then more awards from the round could be announced in a week's time. Libya had offered a total of 41 onshore and offshore blocks.

Libya aims at becoming a major gas producer, with a production of 3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) by 2010 to be increased to 3.8 bcfd by 2015 versus 2.7 bcfd now. The gas-focused round follows three previous exploration rounds focused on oil since the lifting of international sanctions against Libya after it scrapped its prohibited weapons in 2003. (Writing by lamine.ghanmi, editing by William Hardy)