Charles Kennedy
Libya’s NOC signed new agreements with BP and Shell to explore and assess oil and gas fields including Messla, Sarir, and al-Atshan.
BP plans to reopen its Tripoli office by Q4 2025 as part of its return to operations in Libya.
Global supermajors including ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Eni are participating in Libya’s first oil exploration tender since 2007.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has signed agreements with supermajors BP and Shell to explore and evaluate the oil and gas potential of several fields in the African country, marking another step in Big Oil returning to doing business in Libya.
NOC signed this week a memorandum of understanding with BP under which the UK-based supermajor will conduct studies to assess the potential for hydrocarbon exploration and production in the Messla and Sarir fields, as well as in some surrounding exploration areas.
Separately, the Libyan oil corporation has reached an agreement with Shell for the oil and gas major to evaluate hydrocarbon prospects and conduct a comprehensive technical and economic feasibility study to develop the al-Atshan field and other fields fully owned by the NOC, excluding any areas where third parties, other than the NOC and Shell, have rights.
NOC also confirmed that BP intends to resume operations in Libya and reopen its office in the capital, Tripoli, by the fourth quarter of 2025, to manage its projects and closely supervise their progress in the country.
BP and Eni returned to Libya last year after a decade of avoiding the country amid its civil war.
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BP, Shell Sign Libya Deals as Majors Step
Up Their Return
Mitchell Ferman & Olga Tanas
British energy giants BP Plc and Shell Plc signed agreements with Libya’s National Oil Corp to study new opportunities, joining international majors accelerating their return to the oil-rich African nation.
BP, which has pivoted away from its failed low-carbon strategy to focus more on fossil fuels, signed a memorandum of understanding to study reviving two huge oil fields in Libya, it said in a statement on Tuesday. The document outlines a framework for how the energy companies might work together and assess a range of technical data.
Separately, a Shell spokesman confirmed the company has signed a MOU with NOC “to study potential opportunities in the country’s oil and gas sector.”
The focus on Libya, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, comes as the North African nation tries to bring back oil majors that left. Libya has struggled to quell unrest since the 2011 fall of longtime dictator Moammar Qaddafi. The country, which has the biggest-known crude reserves in Africa, is split between two governments that frequently feud over control of under-invested oil resources.
Ever since the civil war, which led to a slump in Libya’s production by about 18-fold to around 100,000 barrels a day in 2011, output has been volatile. The North African nation has pumped about 1.2 million to 1.3 million barrels a day in recent times, though that has had some wild variations. It has a goal of boosting output to 2 million barrels a day in a few years.
Starting last year, international companies, including BP, Italy’s Eni SpA, Spain’s Repsol SA and Austria’s OMV AG, resumed drilling in Libya, ending pauses in place since 2014. Libya is currently running its first tender for energy exploration contracts since the 2011 civil war.
BP’s 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.”
BP’s agreement covers the Sarir and Messla oil fields, which were discovered in 1961 and 1971, respectively. Last year, after a decade-long hiatus, the company re-entered natural gas exploration in Libya in partnership with Eni SpA.
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