A delegation from the Algerian oil company Sonatrach will visit Tripoli on Tuesday to officially announce the resumption of its activities in Libya after an eight-year hiatus.
Sonatrach and the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) are scheduled to negotiate the projects that are scheduled to be launched soon and reconsider the conditions for using border wells on both sides.
Sonatrach's CEO, Rachid Hachichi, talked on the phone a few days ago with the Chairman of the NOC, Farhat Bengdara, to discuss Sonatrach's resumption of its activities in Libya.
The two sides agreed to hold a meeting on Tuesday in Tripoli with the aim of officializing the process of resuming the contractual obligations of the Sonatrach complex in the field of exploration in blocks (065) and (96/95) in the Ghadames Basin, as well as discussing ways to enhance the partnership.
Sonatrach suspended its activity in Libya for the first time in 2011, and returned to work in 2012, before stopping again in 2015 due to the deterioration of the security situation in the country. In 2022, Sonatrach and the NOC signed a memorandum of understanding allowing the Algerian company to resume its activity in Libya after a hiatus that lasted for years.
Sonatrach won a contract to explore for oil in Libya in 2005, investing at least $750 million. It also succeeded in discovering three sites in April 2009, May 2010 and March 2013. Sonatrach estimated the reserves in the Zintan region near the Algerian-Libyan border at about 45 million barrels.
