Libya issues rare oil exploration licences to foreign firms

"Libya has assigned new oil and gas exploration rights to foreign firms, aiming to revamp the sector after years of civil strife. The country's National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced the results of its first licensing round since 2007 on Wednesday. Winners included US oil giant Chevron and Africa's largest privately-owned energy company, Nigeria's Aiteo. list of 3 itemsend of list Other winning bidders were consortia: Spain's Repsol with British Petroleum, Eni North Africa with QatarEnergy, and Repsol with Hungary's MOLGroup and Turkiye Petrolleri."

"The licensing awards signal some renewed interest in Libya's oil sector, which foreign investors had long been wary of after the country erupted into conflict in 2011 with the overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. But experts said the response was smaller than expected. It is likely that lingering uncertainty over Libya's political dysfunction and insecurity in the areas around the blocks on offer were factors in the underwhelming response, Hamish Kinnear, an analyst with UK-based risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, told the AFP news agency."

"The licensing round, in which five of 20 blocks on offer were awarded, follows a $20bn deal last month with France's TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips to boost oil production over 25 years. Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, who announced the deal, said the goal was to increase daily oil production by 850,000 barrels within that timeframe. Libya currently produces approximately 1.4 million bpd."

Libya assigned new oil and gas exploration rights to foreign firms in its first licensing round since 2007, awarding five of 20 blocks. Winning bidders included Chevron, Eni, QatarEnergy, Nigeria's Aiteo and consortia involving Repsol, BP, MOLGroup and Turkiye Petrolleri. The awards followed a $20bn deal with TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips aiming to raise production by 850,000 bpd over 25 years. Libya currently produces about 1.4 million bpd. Investor response was smaller than expected, with analysts citing political division between rival administrations, disputes over revenues and insecurity around offered blocks.

Read at www.aljazeera.com