Germany’s Wintershall will build a new oil pipeline connecting two oil fields in Libya, under an agreement signed with state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).

The crude oil pipeline will connect the Nafoora and Amal fields in the Sirte basin, east of Tripoli, according to an NOC statement.

The 140,000 barrel a day (b/d) Nafoora field is operated by Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco) an NOC subsidiary, while the 30,000 b/d Amal field is operated by Harouge Oil Operations Company. Harouge is a joint venture of NOC and Canada’s Petro-Canada.   

Engineering studies have been completed for a 24-inch, 55-kilometre pipeline with a capacity of 100,000 b/d costing approximately $38m. A material supply contract signed and the first shipment of pipes received. Installation and construction is set to begin in August.

Wintershall did not disclose the name of the material supplier of construction firm.

The pipeline is due to be handed over to the Agoco by the end of March 2013.

In June, Wintershall was producing at 70,000 b/d in Libya from the Al-Sarah field, around 70 per cent of its pre-war production levels.