Libyan National Oil Corporation signed an agreement with US oil giant Exxon Mobil to start exploration in the Sirte Basin, off the Libyan coast.
“We are pleased that we were awarded a contract area for exploration,” said Phil Goss, president and general manager of Exxon Mobil Libya Limited.
According to the terms of agreement, Exxon Mobil was awarded four blocks 160 kilometers off the Libyan coast, in the third round of licensing in December.
The US oil firm said in a statement it was also in “the very early stages” of exploration in another area off Libya in the offshore Cyrenaica Basin, which was awarded to the company in 2005.
In 2006, the United States renewed diplomatic ties with Libya, ending a 25-year battle with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. The lifting of US economic sanctions on Libya opened a new era in relations – especially since the Libyan government selected US oil companies Occidental, Chevron and Amerada Hess in January 2005 to prospect for Libyan oil and modernize its oil facilities.
It is worth mentioning that Libya owns biggest oil reserves in Africa.

(AFP)