Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has confirmed plans to launch a licensing round at the end of 2024 or early-2025, as well as initial interest received in the country’s marginal assets.
“We have announced seven or eight marginal fields already and have seen big interest from more than 30 companies,” said Farhat Bengdara, Chairman of the NOC, said in London on Tuesday.
The Chairman outlined Libya’s efforts to increase production from 1.25 million to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the next two to three years. To achieve this target, the NOC has 45 greenfield and brownfield projects in the pipeline, to be developed at an estimated cost of $17-18 billion.
“We need to ensure price stability for the coming years so that there is a healthy environment for increasing production,” said Bengdara. “We also need to invest in infrastructure and asset integrity, and do more work on the upstream development and production side.”
For Libya, gas monetization remains a strategic focus. According to the Chairman, the country is only utilizing 25% of its Greenstream pipeline capacity to Italy, which it aims to improve. Libya also currently flares over 400 million cubic feet of natural gas and has 12 projects underway aimed at reducing gas flaring to near zero.
“We have just started a project to reduce 35% of our flared gas from the Bahr Essalam fields…Our partners are interested in converting this flared gas to green ammonia and exports, or to use it for electricity. The EU can help by providing finance or technical expertise,” Bengdara stated.