The Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco; ar, شركة الخليج العربي للنفط) is an oil company based in

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, engaged in

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

exploration, production and refining. It was a subsidiary of the state-owned

National Oil Corporation The National Oil Corporation (NOC; ar, المؤسسة الوطنية للنفط) is the national oil company of Libya. It dominates Libya's oil industry, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries, which combined account for around 70% the cou ...

(NOC).

Overview

Agoco's roots go back to 1971 when the Arabian Gulf Exploration Company (AGECO) was established, following the implementation of Law No. 115, issued by the

Libyan Revolutionary Command Council The Libyan Revolutionary Command Council was the twelve-person governing body that ruled the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977. Its chairman was Muammar Gaddafi, who had the most influence. In 1977, the Libyan Arab Republic was abolished an ...

nationalizing Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

shares held by British Petroleum (BP). Agoco was formed by the NOC in late 1979 to take over the assets of a partnership of BP and

Nelson Bunker Hunt Nelson Bunker Hunt (February 22, 1926 – October 21, 2014) was an American oil company executive. He was a billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar tried to corner the world market in silver ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and a partnership of

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * ''Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock lay ...

and

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Indepe ...

called Amoseas. Agoco has

upstream Upstream may refer to: * Upstream (bioprocess) * ''Upstream'' (film), a 1927 film by John Ford * Upstream (networking) * ''Upstream'' (newspaper), a newspaper covering the oil and gas industry * Upstream (petroleum industry) * Upstream (software ...

operations in eight

oil fields A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

, including Sarir, Messla, Nafoora, Beda and Hammada. The company also operates an oil terminal and a

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

in Tobruk and Sarir.

Agoco Fields

The

Sarir field Sarir or Serir was a medieval Christian state lasting from the 6th or 7th century to the 12th century in the mountainous regions of modern-day Dagestan. Its name is derived from the Arabic word for "throne" and refers to a golden throne that ...

was discovered in the

Sirte Basin The Sirte Basin is a late Mesozoic and Cenozoic triple junction continental rift (extensional basin) along northern Africa that was initiated during the late Jurassic Period. It borders a relatively stable Paleozoic craton and cratonic sag basins a ...

by BP in 1961 is considered the country's largest field. The Messla field was discovered in 1971 and is situated 500 km southeast of Benghazi and is also considered one of the biggest fields in the Sirte basin. Nafoora field is situated in the northeastern part of the Sirte basin and discovered in early 1965. The Beda and Hamada fields were discovered during 1959, in the eastern Sirte basin and the southern border of the Grahames basin respectively. Bede and Hamada are nearly considered dead fields unless new

Enhanced oil recovery Enhanced oil recovery (abbreviated EOR), also called tertiary recovery, is the extraction of crude oil from an oil field that cannot be extracted otherwise. EOR can extract 30% to 60% or more of a reservoir's oil, compared to 20% to 40% using ...

technology can be implemented. Additionally, Agoco often operates fields owned by other companies. Agoco production was estimated by NOC at around in 2003.

Refineries and Oil Terminal

The Sarir refinery started operations in 1989 and has a refining capacity of . The fuel supply from the refinery meets requirements for the Sarir Agricultural Project as well as for the general area. Agoco also has a portable petroleum refinery or topping plant at Sarir. The Tobruk refinery has been on stream since 1971 and entered the production phase during 1989. In 1990, the refinery operations were transferred to Agoco after being directly managed by the NOC. In 1996, Tobruk had two thermo-compression

distillation Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...

units installed to produce 750 cm/d of drinking water from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The

General contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

for the project was

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

-based Weir Westgarth Ltd., a subsidiary of the

Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an e ...

. The Marsa El Hariga Terminal (

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

) is situated on the southern coast of the Tobruk trading port. Construction of the terminal started in 1964, and was completed in 1966. The Marsa El Hariega

oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obt ...

was officially inaugurated by exporting the first shipment of crude oil from Sarir in 1967. The crude from Sarir is pumped through a 400 km pipeline, with an auxiliary pumping station between Sarir and the terminal. Marsa El Hariga has three berths with a loading capacity of 8,000 tons/hour for tankers of up to .

2011 Libyan civil war

The Arabian Gulf Oil Company announced plans to use oil funds to support

anti-Gaddafi forces The anti-Gaddafi forces were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi, killing him in the process. These opposition forces included organized and armed militia groups, participants in the Libyan Civil ...

Notes

References

*C.J Lewis (1990
''Sarir Field: Sirte Basin, Libya''
*

Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and publ ...

(2007
''Libya: Country Analysis Brief''
*

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

(2006)
''Libyan Arab Jamahiriya: Economic Report''
Social & Economic Development Group: MENA Region *P. Mobbs (2002
''Mineral Industry of Libya''
*P. Mobbs (2000
''Mineral Industry of Libya''
*Thomas S. Ahlbrandt (2001
''The Sirte Basin Province of Libya: Sirte-Zelten Total Petroleum System''

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

*BBC New

External links

* {{Authority control Oil and gas companies of Libya Cyrenaica