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Libya’s state oil company said Wednesday it had reached an $8 billion contract with Italian energy giant ENI to develop an offshore hydrocarbon site.
“We have reached an agreement with ENI to develop the oil and gas sector by developing two offshore sites capable of producing 850 million cubic feet of gas per day,” said the NOC. Farhat Bengdara head told Libyan news Al-Masar. channel.
The $8 billion deal will be signed in an official ceremony on Saturday, he said.
ENI declined to comment when asked by AFP whether it would confirm the agreement.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Italy has been scrambling to find alternatives to Russian energy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit Tripoli in the coming days, according to media reports on both sides of the Mediterranean. be.
Libya, which sits on top of Africa’s largest oil reserves, has been embroiled in conflict since the 2011 uprising that overthrew longtime leader Moamel Gaddafi.
Control of oil resources, infrastructure and revenues is a major factor in long-running conflicts involving multiple foreign powers and myriad militias.
Since March last year, two governments have been vying for power. One in the western capital, Tripoli, and his other in the eastern part of the country, backed by the military magnate Khalifa and his Haftar.
In December, the NOC called on foreign companies in the hydrocarbon sector to resume operations and said it had assessed the security situation, noting “significant improvements” at certain sites where security issues had made operations difficult. It pointed out.
Libya hopes to boost its oil production from about 1.2 barrels per day (bpd) today to 2 billion barrels per day (bpd).
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