Algeria’s Sonatrack has packed a deal with the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) to jointly operate a number of crude oil fields located between the two countries’ borders, Middle East Monitor reported.

The joint deal included updating a 2006 study concerning Al-Wafa oil field, which is located on the Libyan side of the borders, and Al-Rar oil field, which is located on the Algerian side.

The study will “clarify the hypothesis of the connection between the Algerian Al-Rar gas field and the Libyan Al-Wafa oil field,” an official at Sonatrach stated.

Meanwhile, Sonatrach plans to refine its oil abroad as it aims to decrease its fuel bill, which has reached a record of $2.5 billion in 2017, Sonatrach’s Head, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, disclosed, according to Reuters.

The Algerian state-owned firm plans to pay the processing costs prior to receiving refined fuel, Ould Kaddor said, adding that Sonatrach was in talks over purchasing shares in a foreign refinery.

“Our goal is to reduce our imports of gasoline, they are too high,” Ould Kaddour pointed out.