The Turkish Petroleum Corporation is prepared to invest billions of dollars in developing offshore oilfields in Libya, the state-owned company’s director general said at an industry summit on Sunday, according to a report from oilprice.com.
Speaking at the Libya Energy and Economic Summit in Tripoli, Ahmet Türkoğlu said the company sees significant potential in the North African country.
Türkoğlu said Turkish Petroleum previously invested in Libya’s oil sector but had to withdraw. He added that the company now aims to restore its presence and is prepared to commit billions of dollars to tap into the country’s vast resources
Türkoğlu added that the company is prepared to invest in both exploring new offshore blocs and improving the efficiency of existing fields.
Meanwhile, Libya’s oil minister said the country needs between $3 billion and $4 billion to increase oil production to 1.6 million barrels per day. Khalifa Abdulsadek told Reuters that the government plans to hold a bidding round for new oil and gas licenses before the end of the month.
“The bidding will be in all the sedimentary basins in Libya, Sirte Basin, Murzuq Basin, Ghadames Basin. Marine areas, pretty much everywhere,” Reuters quoted Abdulsadek as saying. Libya’s last licensing round was held 17 years ago.
Abdulsadek said Libya is focused on reconstruction, which relies on increasing production. The government aims to reach 1.6 million barrels per day as an interim goal before pushing toward 2 million barrels.
Libya, home to North Africa’s largest oil reserves, has struggled with production due to political and security instability. Despite challenges, the country reached a milestone late last year with daily output hitting 1.59 million barrels. Currently, production averages around 1.4 million barrels per day. Before civil war erupted in 2011, Libya had recorded an all-time high of more than 1.7 million barrels per day.
The last four years saw relative stability in Libya, which has had little peace since 2011 and was split in 2014 between eastern and western factions.
Turkey sent military personnel to Libya in 2020 to train and support a Tripoli-based government against eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces, the Libyan National Army.