Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) is reviving a multibillion-dollar natural gas project aimed at reducing chronic electricity shortages, while also offering potential benefits to the rival eastern administration.
According to a letter from NOC chairman Masoud Suleiman to Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbaiba, the state-owned Gulf Oil Company is expected to lead the development of gas deposits in Block NC-7, located in western Libya. The project may involve international partners, including Italy’s Eni, France’s TotalEnergies, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), and Turkish Petroleum.
In a move designed to balance power-sharing, the project will be supervised by a newly created gas company, “Jilyana,” headquartered in Benghazi. Such an arrangement could address longstanding grievances from the eastern authorities, who have often complained of being marginalised in the distribution of Libya’s vast energy revenues.
The project is seen as one of Libya’s most significant new gas initiatives, with the country holding an estimated 53 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration. A previous attempt to develop the NC-7 block in 2023 collapsed after disputes over profit-sharing terms with foreign companies.
Neither Eni, TotalEnergies, Adnoc, nor Turkish Petroleum commented on the NOC letter, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. Libyan energy officials also declined to respond.
Since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been divided between Dbeibah’s internationally recognised government in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar. Disputes over energy revenues have repeatedly disrupted the country’s oil production, which currently stands at about one million barrels per day.
Suleiman warned that exploiting new gas resources by the end of 2026 was crucial to reduce reliance on costly fuel imports and to meet the rising industrial demand for electricity.
