The National Oil Corp. wants its unit Arabian Gulf Oil Co. to develop discovered gas deposits in the NC-7 block in western Libya, potentially in collaboration with consortium partners Eni SpA, TotalEnergies SE, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Turkish Petroleum Corp., according to a letter from the NOC to Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognized government.
Libya’s eastern-based parliament is preparing to approve a 2019 maritime pact that would allow Turkey to explore for oil and gas in Libyan waters, according to people familiar with the talks in Benghazi and Ankara. Most obstacles to the accord have been cleared, they said, a striking reversal for the east—long aligned with commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army and historically opposed to Turkish involvement. Tripoli, which already maintains close ties with Ankara, backs the deal.
“This agreement reflects our strong interest in deepening our partnership with NOC and supporting the future of Libya’s energy sector,” said BP Executive Vice President of Gas and Low Carbon Energy William Lin. “We hope to apply BP’s experience from redeveloping and managing giant oil fields around the world.”
Chevron Corp. and TotalEnergies SE are competing in Libya’s first energy exploration tender since the 2011 conflict, the country’s state-run oil firm said, as the OPEC member looks to oil majors to help ramp up production to a record.
Libya’s latest upstream licensing round has already attracted more than 40 applicants, a signal of the country’s re-entry into the global energy arena and growing interest in its largely untapped hydrocarbon potential. This update was shared by Abdolkabir Alfakhry, Advisor to Libya’s Minister of Oil and Gas, during a session sponsored by ConocoPhillips at the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris on Wednesday.
Turkey is currently in talks to explore for oil and gas in Bulgaria, with similar plans for exploration in Iraq and Libya, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has revealed. According to the minister, state-owned energy company Turkiye Petrolleri AO (TPAO) will sign an agreement with an unnamed foreign partner within the next month to conduct exploration in Bulgaria’s section of the Black Sea.
Libyan officials have revealed key details of the country’s first oil and gas exploration licensing round in nearly two decades, with 22 blocks on offer under revamped production-sharing agreements designed to attract foreign capital and accelerate upstream growth.
The bid round plans were first announced last month.
Libya resumed loading oil from two key eastern ports — which account for a third of its exports — after they were halted for a day by protesters.
Libya’s top international operators and the National Oil Corporation (NOC) will take center stage at the Libya Energy & Economic Summit in Tripoli next week for the panel Unlocking Libya: The Next Frontier for Exploration and Investment.
Libya’s oil production has risen to the highest daily level in more than a decade, just months after a political crisis slashed the country’s output.