Libya’s National Oil Corporation signs oil investment and purchase deals with Russian Rosneft

BY Libyan Express Feb 21, 2017 - 13:38

Russian oil company, Rosneft PJSC, signed investment and crude-purchasing agreements with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC).

Moscow-based Rosneft agreed to invest in exploration and production in Libya, the state-run NOC said Tuesday in a statement on its website, without specifying the amount or timing of the investment.

The companies signed a separate accord for Rosneft to buy Libyan crude.

“We need the assistance and investment of major international oil companies to reach our production goals and stabilize our economy,” NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said in the statement.

The deals are part of a bigger push by the NOC to encourage additional investments by foreign oil companies to help Libya increase its production to 2.1 million barrels a day by 2020, according to the statement.

Libya produced 1.6 million barrels a day (bpd) before the 2011 revolution set off years of fighting that prompted foreign investors to withdraw.

OPEC agreed with other oil producers including Russia to reduce their collective output by 1.8 million barrels a day, starting Jan. 1. Libya was exempted from the cuts as its works to restore its oil industry.

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