Libya grants first post-Gaddafi foreign oil licences

Libya granted oil exploration and production licences to several foreign energy companies, including giants Chevron and BP, for the first time since the death of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The North African country's oil industry has faced significant challenges following the revolt that toppled and killed Gaddafi in 2011.

But with energy production and exports at their strongest since then, Libya is seeking to draw major global energy companies.

In addition to Chevron, Wednesday's winners of the latest bidding round included Africa's largest privately owned energy company, Nigeria's Aiteo.

Other contractors

The other winning bidders were consortia: Spain's Repsol with BP, Eni North Africa with QatarEnergy, and Repsol with Hungary's MOLGroup and Turkiye Petrolleri.

But only five blocks drew bids out of a total of 20 offered up for exploration and extraction.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) did not announce the cost of the licenses and said there would be another bidding round later this year.

Libya currently produces around 1.5 million barrels a day, sitting on Africa's largest oil reserves, estimated at 48.4 billion barrels.

Last month, Libya signed agreements worth more than $20 billion of investment by TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips, to increase oil production over 25 years.

Authorities said the goal was to boost daily oil production by 850,000 barrels within that timeframe.