Farhat Bengdara, the boss of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), has said that he does not anticipate any further disruptions to oil production in the country, which has raised its oil production to 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), double what it was three months ago.
Bengdara was speaking in Abu Dhabi at an industry conference. In the past, oil production in country has been disrupted as different groups sought to advance their political agendas or seek material benefits, but Bengdara said that there was now a consensus that oil production should not be used for political leverage.
Furthermore, Bengdara said the country was looking for foreign partners to invest in developing further sources of natural gas and oil in the country. For example, an $8 billion deal with Italy-based Eni is close to being finalised. He told reporters:
“We are in the process to sign an investment with Eni to produce gas from the offshore. This is something around $6 to $8 billion and…also a programme of drilling offshore and onshore will start soon by Eni and BP (BP.L).”
He also said the country was negotiating with TotalEnergies, which makes the Total Equivis hydraulic oil, about investing more and increasing production in Libya, but he did not elaborate further. Bengdara also suggested that gas could be a much bigger prospect than oil for the country and called for the energy transition to be approached in an even-handed manner, saying that cutting investment in hydrocarbons would lead to supply shortages and unstable energy prices.
