Libya's NOC Chief Says 40 Companies Showed Interest in Current Bid Round

General view of the Libyan state National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli, Libya July 14, 2022. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed/File Photo

The head of Libya's National Oil Corporation said on Wednesday that around 40 companies had shown interest in participating in the North African country's current round of bidding for oil exploration rights.

Libya is offering 22 areas for oil exploration and development in its first such bidding round in more than 17 years as it experienced a prolonged period of armed conflict and political turmoil.

"Libya is a very stable country nowadays," Masoud Suleiman told the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi.
"Our doors are wide open for investors."

The new bidding round, announced on March 3, comes as Africa's second-largest oil producer, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, seeks to raise its oil output.

Also, Suleiman told Reuters on Wednesday that NOC plans to use a loan from the country's central bank to finance its strategy for raising oil output.

"We have a plan for a loan from central bank, and investors will also bring funds," he said.

Libya is considering raising output to 1.6 million barrels per day next year and 1.8 million bpd in 2027 with the longer-term ambition of reaching 2 million bpd in the next five years, Oil Minister Khalifa Abdulsadek said at the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.