Plans for oil well to the south

An international company plans to start drilling an oil well south of Malta by 2010.

Leni Gas and Oil Plc said yesterday it has identified the site with the best potential to strike oil and it sees a potential of five billion barrels and 1.475 billion in recoverable reserves.

This comes three months after the government awarded an area of 5,715 square kilometres to Malta Oil Pty Ltd for offshore exploration and production of oil and gas.

Leni Gas said its production-sharing contract with the government had formally started as a joint venture with Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc.

Leni owns 10 per cent of Area 4, located between Libya and Malta, which will be drilled to a depth of 2,500 metres. Last year, it started a seismic survey of the area to identify drillable prospects.