Libya will announce on 11 February the results of its first upstream licensing round since 2007, as the country accelerates efforts to increase gas output for domestic power needs and restore exports to Europe, state-owned NOC chairman Masoud Suleima today said.
Suleiman restated, at the LNG2026 conference in Doha, Libya's plans to raise crude production in stages to 1.6mn b/d and ultimately to 2mn b/d, while targeting gas output of up to 4bn ft³/d. Suleiman did not provide a timeline for the plans which follow years of underinvestment and declining reservoir performance.
The country's current gas production is insufficient to meet local demand, Suleiman said. Around 85pc the gas produced in Libya is used for power generation, he said.
The licensing round — offering onshore and offshore acreage under revised fiscal terms — drew bids from more than 30 international companies, Suleiman said. The round marks Libya's return to exploration after a prolonged hiatus following the 2011 civil war.
Gas development is now central to Libya's upstream strategy, with the NOC prioritising domestic supply and pipeline exports to Europe over longer-distance LNG shipments. Suleiman said Libya intends first to maximise throughput on the 11.5bn m³/yr (1.11bn ft³/d) Greenstream pipeline, which links western Libya to Italy, before considering any revival of LNG exports from the ageing Marsa el-Brega plant. The latter has been inactive since 2011.
Libya's gas exports have crashed in recent years as a result of rising domestic demand and falling gas output. Exports stood at just 124mn ft³/d in 2025, down from 136mn ft³/d in 2024 and down from 874mn ft³/d in 2010, before the 2011 civil war.
Libya is also seeking to unlock incremental gas supply by reducing reinjection and curbing flaring, according to Suleiman. The country currently reinjects around 400mn ft³/d of gas for pressure maintenance, but is studying water injection alternatives to free volumes for the local network. Separately, the NOC is advancing a $1.5bn gas recovery project aimed at cutting flaring to near zero by 2030.
The project, which will dry and compress offshore associated gas for delivery into the domestic system, is about 70pc complete and is expected to bring around 120mn ft³/d of gas on stream by the third quarter of this year, Suleiman said.
Around 100mn ft³/d of previously flared gas has already been redirected into the system in 2024.
Domestic gas demand is set to rise further as Libya expands power generation and heavy industry. Suleiman cited growth plans at steel and cement plants, alongside petrochemical facilities, which could lift industrial gas consumption by several hundred million cubic feet per day over the coming years.
In parallel, Libya is preparing to restart unconventional gas exploration, with initial shale drilling expected to begin in the second half of this year, Suleiman said, adding that offshore acreage is likely to be predominantly gas-prone.
The renewed gas push comes as Libya seeks to position itself as a reliable southern supplier to Europe, which has sharply increased gas imports since the Ukraine war in 2022.
