Repsol, in a consortium with the Hungarian firm Mol and the Turkish company TPOC, has been awarded blocks in the first public bidding round for oil and gas exploration held by Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) in two decades.
Alongside the Spanish, Hungarian, and Turkish firms, other winners in this auction—which aims to revitalize the African nation’s oil sector—include the Eni-Qatar Energy consortium, as well as the American giant Chevron and the Nigerian company Aiteo.
The auction assigned areas located in the onshore Sirte and Murzuq basins, as well as the offshore Sirte basin in the Mediterranean.
Repsol, which began its exploration and production activities in Libya in the early 1970s, operates in the country through its subsidiary Repsol Exploration Murzuq S.A. (REMSA). Meanwhile, development and production operations are carried out by Akakus Oil Operations, a joint operating company on behalf of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), Repsol, TotalEnergies, OMV, and Equinor.
The Chairman of the NOC Board of Directors, Masoud Suleiman, highlighted that this award “represents a victory in restoring global confidence in Libya’s ability to recover and develop its institutions, in line with rapid global advances in various fields, especially in the energy sector.”
Exploration and production were suspended in Libya for more than 17 consecutive years. The National Oil Corporation revived these activities early last year through a bidding round that traveled to several major countries worldwide to present investment opportunities in 20 blocks. These included nine offshore blocks and 11 onshore areas, for which seismic and technical studies were conducted to provide clear data to companies wishing to participate in the bidding process.
