Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Tuesday its wholly-owned subsidiary Arabian Gulf Oil Company (ACOGO) has made a new oil discovery in the Ghadames basin in northwestern Libya, close to the Libyan-Algerian border.
The discovery was made in well H1-NC4, with daily production estimated at about 4,675 barrels per day of crude oil, and approximately 2 million cubic feet of gas, NOC said in the statement carried by Reuters.
Last week, the Libyan state oil company announced a new oil discovery by the Libyan subsidiary of Austrian energy firm OMV in Block 106/4 in the Sirte Basin, one of the world’s top petroleum provinces in terms of estimated reserves.
Production tests showed that the exploration well is producing more than 4,200 barrels of oil per day, with gas production expected to exceed 2.6 million cubic feet daily, NOC said.
The well marks the first discovery for OMV in Block 106/4, under the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) signed in 2008 between the NOC as the owner, and OMV, as the operator.
OMV returned to Libya at the end of 2024, after more than a decade. Foreign oil and gas firms and investors suspended operations in late 2011 after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi and the civil war that ensued.
Security conditions in Libya have improved in recent months, allowing foreign majors to return to exploration in Libya, one of Africa’s top oil producers.
Algerian state energy firm Sonatrach resumed oil and gas exploration drilling in Libya’s Ghadames basin in mid-October.
Italy’s energy giant Eni has resumed exploration activities in the offshore area northwest of Libya after a hiatus of more than five years, NOC said in early October.
In July, NOC 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.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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