TotalEnergies, Eni announce main oil discoveries in Libya

Major oil groups TotalEnergies and Eni announced significant oil and gas discoveries in Libya, The New Arab reported on January 20. 

At the Libya Energy & Economic Summit 2025, held on January 18, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and foreign energy companies including TotalEnergies, Eni, OMV, Repsol and Nabors outlined significant milestones to enhance oil and gas production in Libya.

Libya plans to invest $17bn to upgrade and expand oil infrastructure. The focus is to prevent frequent oil shutdowns caused by water seepage and infrastructure corrosion.

TotalEnergies announced the completion of an onshore exploration project and new exploration plans in the Waha and Sharara fields for 2025. It also unveiled exploration opportunities in the Sirte and Murzuq basins. The company said results from ongoing exploration activities are anticipated next week.

“With 40% of Africa’s reserves, Libya remains largely untapped,” said Julien Pouget, senior VP for the MENA region. 

Eni has also launched three exploration plays in shallow, deepwater and ultra-deep offshore. The Italian group said it is committed to pumping over $10bn to gas projects, including the Greenstream gas pipeline and a CO2 capture and storage plant in Mellitah.

Spanish Repsol said it reached a production milestone of 340,000 barrels per day. The company plans to achieve 2mn bpd target using innovation and capacity building to overcome challenges and drive growth.

Meanwhile, Nabors advocated for the use of cutting-edge solutions to maximise efficiency and lower costs, to ensure safer operations in exploration and drilling.

Bashir Garea, Technical Advisor to the NOC Chairman, said the country has now 48bn barrels of discovered but unexploited oil. The total potential is estimated at 90bn bpd, particularly offshore. He added that the country also has 122 trillion cubic feet (3.45 trillion cubic metres) of gas awaiting development.

Garea called for increased foreign investment and advanced technology to unlock this potential. 

The NOC manages Libya's oil and gas production and operates through smaller subsidiaries. The state utility announced plans to increase the country's oil production from over 1.3mn bpd to 1.4mn bpd by the end of 2024, 1.7mn bpd by 2027 and 2mn bpd by 2028.

Libya, an OPEC member and North Africa's third-largest oil producer, has faced disruptions in oil production since the 2011 fall of the ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi due to facility blockades for political or material demands.