Foreign oil majors win exploration licenses in Libya

US multinational Chevron, Italy’s Eni, QatarEnergy, and Spain’s Repsol are among the companies awarded rights, the National Oil Corporation has announced

Libya has awarded new oil and gas exploration blocks to major foreign energy companies in its first upstream licensing round in nearly two decades, as the North African country ties to revive its crucial energy sector.

The state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced Wednesday that it granted exploration rights for five blocks to firms, including US multinational Chevron, Italy’s Eni, QatarEnergy and Spain’s Repsol.

The awards cover acreage in the onshore Sirte and Murzuq basins and offshore blocks in the gas-rich Mediterranean. Eni and QatarEnergy secured Offshore Area 01, while a consortium led by Repsol alongside Hungary’s MOL and Turkish Petroleum (TPOC) won rights to Offshore Area 07. Chevron returned to Libya with the Sirte S4 onshore license, and Nigeria’s Aiteo won the Murzuq M1 block, according to a NOC statement.

Speaking at the awards ceremony in the capital, Tripoli, NOC Chairman Masoud Suleman said attracting major international companies to invest in Libya marked a key step in the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) ‘Return to Life’ initiative.

READ MORE: US energy giant returns to Libya

The country holds Africa’s largest proven oil reserves, with an estimated 48 billion barrels – representing 41% of the continent’s total as of 2024 – according to the US Energy Information Administration. However, it last held a bidding round in 2007, four years before the NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.

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Libya aims to raise oil output to about 1.6 million barrels per day by the end of 2026 and increase gas exports by 2030 – goals that have repeatedly been undermined by years of political division and militant violence.

The African country remains deeply fractured following Gaddafi’s demise, divided between the UN-recognized GNU based in Tripoli, and the rival Government of National Stability in the eastern city of Benghazi.

The NOC, which is aligned with the Tripoli-based administration, launched the exploration tender last year and said 37 international oil companies were taking part. Of the 20 blocks offered, only five were awarded Wednesday, reportedly following disagreements over drilling commitments and bidding terms.