Production at the giant El-Sharara Field has reached 100 million barrels in a record time of less than three years since first oil in December 1996.

Repsol YPF, through its affiliate Repsol Oil Operation, operates the field on behalf of the National Oil Corporation of Libya (NOC) and an association of European companies headed by Repsol YPF (20%) and including �MV (Austria) and TOTAL FINA (France � Belgium), each holding 15%.

By means of this achievement, ROO consolidates as the most efficient operating company and the second largest foreign producer in Libya, quite close to Agip Oil, which is the country�s largest foreign operator.

El-Sharara Field is located in the NC-115 Block of the Murzuq Basin (SW Libya), some 1,000 km south of Tripoli, in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Present production is 150,000 bopd of excellent quality, light (44� API) and sweet oil, with a potential capacity to increase up to 200,000 bopd in the near future.

A new exploration agreement was signed in Tripoli, on November 1st, 1999, between the NOC and a group of four European companies, relating to the North-A Block, located in the Northern side of the Murzuq Basin, with a surface of some 12,300 km2. This consortium comprises Repsol YPF (operator with a 32% stake), �MV and TOTAL FINA, with 24% each, and SAGA of Norway with the other 20%. This new agreement is an Addendum to the EPSA (Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement) for the neighbouring blocks NC-186 and NC-187, signed two years ago.