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Simply sign up to the Oil & Gas industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n The world\u2019s biggest energy companies are returning to Libya as they hunt for new oil and gas reserves, nearly 15 years after the overthrow of Muammer Gaddafi pitched the country into political chaos that continues to this day.\u00a0<\/p>\n A delegation from the Tripoli-based Libyan government has been visiting Washington this week to drum up interest in the country\u2019s first auction of oil exploration licences for 18 years.<\/p>\n Oil majors Shell, Chevron, TotalEnergies, Eni and Repsol are all pre-qualified to bid in the round that offers exploration rights across the country, after Exxon signed a deal in August to explore for gas off the Libyan coast. <\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to working with the Libya National Oil Corporation (NOC) to fully evaluate Libya\u2019s potential and leverage ExxonMobil\u2019s leading capabilities to jointly explore for new resources,\u201d Exxon told the Financial Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n The oil industry\u2019s return to Libya started to gain momentum in July when Shell and BP confirmed they had signed agreements with the NOC to assess opportunities.<\/p>\n The revived interest in the country, which remains divided between two rival governments and their affiliated armed groups, comes as energy companies seek to boost their reserves, after forecasts that crude demand would be stronger for longer because of a slower transition to clean energy. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re searching for more reserves and they\u2019re returning to tried-and-tested basins,\u201d said one senior energy banker, who added that oil majors were used to navigating politically risky environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Tripoli government, which controls the west of the country, is keen to boost the country\u2019s production from 1.4mn to 2mn barrels per day by 2030, and is offering new production sharing agreements to encourage investment. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had discussions under way that have been reported in the media. So I can acknowledge this in Libya,\u201d\u00a0Mike Wirth, Chevron chief executive, told analysts at an investor day last week. \u201cTerms are more attractive today than historically they have been,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The Tripoli-based government is recognised by the UN but a large share of the country\u2019s oil lies in the eastern territory held by the renegade general Khalifa Haftar. <\/p>\n In Washington, the Libyan delegation has sought to convince the US that it can become a major supplier of oil and gas and that Tripoli needs US help to get Russia out of Libya and unify the country and its economy.<\/p>\n Regional analysts have warned of a growing Russian military presence in the country\u2019s east and south with corruption widespread across sectors. Moscow is a longtime backer of Haftar.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a problem,\u201d Mahmoud Ahmed Alfiste, a senior Libyan official said during the delegation\u2019s visit to Washington. While the world \u201crecognises the NOC\u201d as the only legitimate entity to \u201cproduce and export oil\u201d from Libya, \u201cHaftar and his sons are controlling\u201d parts of the country that contain some critical reserves, Alfiste said. <\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n The Tripoli-based government believes the return of western oil companies across Libya could help boost Tripoli\u2019s leverage and stabilise the country, officials said, while increased Libyan oil production would provide an alternative to Russian oil.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US and western countries are trying to prevent Russia from selling its oil and its energy. That would bring a shortage in the energy market and Libya can be an alternative,\u201d Ibrahim Sahed, another member of the delegation and of Libya\u2019s High Council of State, told the FT.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also said Libya needed western technology to enhance the production of its oilfields. \u201cNobody has technology like the US,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Alfiste said the country\u2019s petroleum ministry and NOC had already signed a memorandum of understanding with Chevron and was in discussions with ConocoPhillips. <\/p>\n Tim Eaton, a Libya specialist at Chatham House in London, said the visit by a new US envoy earlier this year had helped attract interest. \u201cIf those companies are able to invest and build the oil sector, this can be a kind of rising tide that lifts all boats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But he warned that an influx of investments could entrench problems.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk is that these kinds of deals brokered via Libyan elites are going to solidify the status quo rather than provide an opportunity to transform it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Jamie Smyth in New York<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Oil & Gas industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The world\u2019s biggest energy companies are returning to Libya as they hunt for new oil and gas reserves, nearly 15 years after the overthrow of Muammer Gaddafi pitched the country into political chaos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[14322,9281,1372,14442,7967,268,1007,19721,637],"class_list":{"0":"post-34797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-auction","9":"tag-exploration","10":"tag-launches","11":"tag-libya","12":"tag-majors","13":"tag-oil","14":"tag-return","15":"tag-tripoli","16":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}