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Russia’s Tatneft has resumed exploration activities in partnership with the National Oil Company (NOC), in the light of the improving situation in Libya.

Nothing is what it seems in a political environment dominated by insincerity and double-dealing – not even the apparent victory of hydrocarbons sector bastion Mustafa Sanalla in his bitter show-down with oil and gas minister Mohammed Aoun.

Proposals to solve Libya’s interminable power and water supply crises are being advanced by competing institutions, but deep uncertainties about governance, security and finance mean only the most expensive and least sustainable projects are likely to be completed. Pragmatic renewable power schemes will remain on the sidelines, writes John Hamilton

A keystone of Libya’s oil and gas industry for the past seven years, National Oil Corporation chairman Mustafa Sanalla is under intense pressure, with his position weakened by further deterioration in an antagonistic relationship with oil minister Mohammed Aoun and demands for his dismissal from leaders of the Cyrenaica-based House of Representatives. It comes at a time when Libya is ill-prepared for any disruption to its main source of foreign currency revenues, writes John Hamilton.

Oil and gas minister Mohammed Aoun is doing his best to impose his authority on an industry which has been dominated by his powerful rival National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Mustafa Sanalla for the past seven years. There is a strong personal animosity between the two. Indeed, Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba may have appointed Aoun with the intention of making Sanalla’s position as awkward as possible.

Italy’s Eni seems gradually to be swallowing up BP’s African assets, with potential deals in Algeria and Angola building on a close relationship forged also in Egypt, Libya and Mozambique. These deals may be a sign of a deeper shake-out as European majors adapt to the demands of energy transition, writes James Gavin.

Algerian state energy company Sonatrach has committed to returning to its troubled neighbour Libya – an experience previously seen as a costly waste of time by many in Algiers. As National Oil Corporation (NOC) seeks to raise output to 1.3m b/d – and even to its pre-conflict high of 1.6m b/d – Algerian reports said the Libyan state company had asked Sonatrach to come back into Ghadames Basin Block 65, which it entered in 2005 and exited in 2014 as the security situation deteriorated.

The impact of structural reform and the energy transition is markedly different around the continent. North Africa experienced a sharp – if probably temporary – slowdown in the growth of renewables last year, when the Maghreb and Egypt accounted for 4.3GW of the 7.7GW added on the continent, including 3.1GW of new gas capacity. 

Sovereign wealth fund the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) is to concentrate on its domestic market this year in an effort to help rebuild the shattered country, according to chairman Dr Ali Mahmoud Hassan Mohammed. He told  told African Energy the LIA would focus in particular on the power and real estate sectors.

National Oil Corporation (NOC) successfully used a temporary declaration of force majeure at the Marsa el-Hariga export terminal to secure payment of budget arrears from the Government of National Unity (GNU). The suspension of exports for just over a week was an indication of the scratchy relationship between NOC and the new Ministry of Oil and Gas, with each side yet to test the limits of its role in the new administration.

The appointment of a new unified government opens the way to significant reform of Libya’s energy sector. While power supply will be a key priority, the return of sovereign authority to the oil sector could finally enable long-awaited regulatory reforms, provided the new oil minister can work with NOC, writes John Hamilton.

Libya’s tired and etiolated governance structures are more than usually dependent on personalities and personal relationships. However, if new oil and gas minister Mohamed Aoun and National Oil Corporation chairman Mustafa Sanalla can get over their mutual antipathy, the return of sovereign authority to the sector after more than a decade opens the way to achieving a crucial reform that has been under discussion since the days of the late Qadhafi-era NOC chairman Shukri Ghanem.

After a difficult decade during which operations have been interrupted by conflict, disputes over debts and gas supply and allegations of corruption, Norway’s Yara has sold its half-share in the Libyan Norwegian Fertilizer Company (Lifeco) to National Oil Corporation (NOC). On 31 December, NOC announced that it had bought out its partner, meaning that the Marsa Al-Brega-based ammonia and urea production facilities are now owned 75% by the corporation and 25% by the Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund.

Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi met Presidency Council head Fayez Al-Sarraj and National Oil Corporation chairman Mustafa Sanalla in Tripoli on 30 November. The Italian IOC has a track record of providing industry support to its national partners at strategic junctures, a policy that emphasises the depth of its commitment to its markets. Eni said Descalzi discussed business continuity and support for energy access, including Eni’s commitment to developing gas projects.

National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Mustafa Sanalla and Medco International Ventures Limited chief executive Roberto Lorato have agreed a schedule to restart the development of the Indonesian company’s Ghadames Basin oil discovery, which has been on hold since the fall of the Qadhafi regime in 2011.