Embattled North African country, Libya, is hoping to conduct oil and gas licensing round by next year, Libya’s state-run oil company chief said at just concluded CERAWeek.
It would be its first in nearly two decades, Argus said, adding that it the licensing round would help Libya reach its production goal of 2 million barrels per day within the next three years.
OPEC data showed in its latest Monthly Oil Market Report showed that Libya’s crude oil production in January fell to 1.148 million bpd, after averaging 1.153 million bpd in the fourth quarter of last year.
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The African Energy Chamber said in a recent report that if political stability is restored and the multiple government is reduced to one, in the North African country, Libya’s crude oil production capacity could reach a maximum of 1.8 million bpd by 2024.
Still, the Libyan Government of National Unity insists that the country could produce as much as 3 million bpd within two to three years.
Libya has made some progress in paving the way for boosting gas production, including signing an $8 billion offshore gas deal with Eni, and Eni’s and BP’s exploration drilling plans in the Ghadames and Sirte basins—with offshore drilling planned for next year.
Libya’s NOC chief Ben Guadara is adamant that the Eni deal is “just the first step in a long way for more and more investment.”
Guadara also spoke of a possible LNG liquefaction plant and a gas pipeline to Egypt with tie-ins to the Idku facility and Damietta terminals, Argus said.
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Libya’s gas output is currently at 1.3 billion cubic feet per day, with just 250 million cubic feet per day of it able to be exported through the 775 million cubic feet per day Greenstream pipeline, as much of the gas must go to fulfill Libya’s own domestic gas needs.
By Ken Okoye
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