A 4-day workshop on the Petroleum Geology of Libya has recently been assembled by Don Hallett, David Boote and Lynx Information Systems.

The workshop is primarily designed for companies and organizations requiring a rapid, comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the petroleum geology of Libya. The workshop has been successfully run in Japan and Canada, and can be tailored to meet individual requirements.

Using about 400 high-quality annotated slides, the workshop is given as a Powerpoint presentation and is designed to be informal and to encourage discussion.

The topics covered are History of oil and gas exploration and production in Libya from the 1955 Petroleum Law to the present day, plate tectonic history of Libya from Rodinia, through Pannotia, Gondwana, Pangaea, Tethys to the Mediterranean, and the relation of plate tectonics to the structural evolution of Libya. The workshop then covers petroleum geochemistry and petroleum systems, and includes recent work on the source rocks of the eastern Sirt Basin.

The core of the workshop is a detailed review of the sedimentary basins of Libya, their stratigraphy, structure, geochemistry, and petroleum systems. Typical fields are illustrated and information is given on reserves, production and remaining potential. A full day is devoted to the Sirt Basin plus Cyrenaica and the offshore. All the main structural provinces are covered in detail: the trough areas of Zallah, Abu Tumayam, Maradah, Ajdabiya, Hameimat, Ash Shulaydimah, and Maragh, and the platform areas of Waddan, Zahrah-Hufrah, Al Bayda, Zaltan, and Amal-Nafurah. The western offshore is discussed in detail, and the intriguing potential of offshore Cyrenaica.

Day 3 is devoted to the Palaeozoic basins of Ghadamis, Murzuq and Kufrah with a detailed review of their geology and petroleum systems. Key differences between the three basins are highlighted and the impact of these differences on prospectivity.

The final day is devoted to a discussion of current opportunities in Libya - open acreage, with comments on the currently available blocks, farm-in opportunities, field development opportunities, with comments on the role of NOC and ways of approaching NOC.

Companies participating in the workshop will receive a CD containing all the material shown during the workshop, and a copy of 'Petroleum Geology of Libya' a 500 page hardback book published by Elsevier Science in 2002.

Don Hallett has a long history of involvement with Libya. He worked for Sirte Oil Company for 10 years, published a book on the 'Petroleum Geology of Libya' and has consulted for eight companies on opportunities in Libya. David Boote has also worked extensively on Libya and is the author of several key papers on Libya and Algeria. He has consulted widely on Libya and has made a special study of the Murzuq Basin. Lynx Information Systems have an extensive data base on Libya and have produced an detailed non-proprietary report on Libya