[2] In 1957, the Libyan government granted Concession 65 to Bunker Hunt, an independent oil producer from Texas.

Mobil discovered Cretaceous basal sand at Amal in 1959, but early results did not recognize its full potential.

Many wells proved expensive due to lost circulation in Paleocene-Cretaceous carbonates and caving in underlying Late Cretaceous shales.

[3] For years BP avoided using gas detectors on its oil platforms, citing numerous false alarms.

Seismic maps on both horizons and subsurface information showed the reservoir structure and helped limit drilling in dry holes.

In recognition of the number and ferocity of the blowouts BP called for the fire fighter Red Adair plus his lieutenants Boots & Coots.

On return to the main camp he informed BP that he could cap the wells unaided and dispatched Boots & Coots back to Houston.

Since Sarir does not have a gas cap and GORs vary between 60-225 static ft³ per barrel, pressure maintenance was an issue.

Sarir was discovered by geophysical methods and subsurface geology with no topographic or geomorphic anomalies being reported.

An air magnetometer revealed the southwestern A structure and its southeastern prolongation, which was later found to be a buried fault line.

Several regional horst and graben trends originating in the Late Cretaceous remained active during the Tertiary as the Basin continued subsiding.

Major fault movement occurred during Cretaceous sand deposition, most evident on north and west flanks of the C structure subject to uplift and erosion.

There was little fault movement during the Tertiary, but differential compaction created a simple anticline draped over the underlying Cretaceous structure.

The fall from the Sarir C crest to the southern low is 1000 m, occurring over a 22 km distance equivalent to an overall dip of 2.5°.

In the early regressive phase, basal sandstones were deposited on a Precambrian basement of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

After a lengthy hiatus, represented by unconformity and sandstone erosion, a transgressive sequence of red, green, and purple Anhydrite shales was laid.

Above the transgressive sequence are Late Cretaceous shales with tight, micritic carbonate, marking the top of the Mesozoic.

The youngest fauna are Maastrichtian, with an apparent disconformity between the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene, marked by high levels of gamma radiation on logs.

In the Lower Eocene, Basin conditions became restricted, producing an alternating dolomite and anhydrite sequence with a consistent thickness.

The Late Eocene reflects more frequent lateral variations of interbedded limestones, dolomites, marls, and shales.

Sarir C is contained in a structural-stratigraphic trap, represented by dips to the east, south, and west and the major northeast-southwest-trending fault on its northwest flank.

Gravity segregation of crude in the trap produced a peripheral tar mat in permeable intervals of the reservoir intersecting the oil-water level.