Did anyone catch the women’s golf major tournament in France this past weekend? What a dramatic victory by Aussie Grace Kim: She eagled twice in the one-hole playoff to win her first major against our favorite, Thai golfer Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul. In this case, we think Kim deserves the win for that gutsy performance.
Now, let’s look into two energy news bytes from last week.
Shangyou Nie
Editor, Well Read
Libya Signs Two Agreements as IOCs Accelerate to (Re)enter the Country
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Last week, Libyan National Oil Corp. signed two agreements with BP and Shell to develop and/or redevelop existing oil and gas fields, as various IOCs are trying to enter the country for oil and gas exploration and development.
The BP deal:
On 8 July, BP announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Libya’s NOC.
The MOU is to evaluate the redevelopment of the giant onshore fields Sarir and Messla in the Sirte Basin.
Sarir is an oil field BP initially discovered in 1961. Messla was discovered in 1971.
Sarir has more than 10 billion barrels of oil in place. Messla has three billion barrels of oil in place.
BP will also look at exploration opportunities around these fields.
BP plans to reopen an office in Tripoli before year’s end 2025.
The Shell deal:
According to the Financial Times, Shell confirmed it had also signed a MOU with NOC to study oil and gas production opportunities in the Al-Atshan Field and other areas currently operated by NOC.
Shell will carry out a comprehensive technical and economic feasibility study to develop the onshore field, located near the border between the Ghadames and Murzuq basins.
According to Upstream, Shell will be able to carry out studies on other NOC-controlled fields.
A key challenge to develop the Al-Atshan Field is reported in the separation of sulphide and CO2.
Background:
BP has been in and out of Libya a number of times, partly due to political uncertainty. It currently has exploration joint ventures with ENI in Libya.
Libya wants to increase its current production from 1.4 million barrels of oil per day to two million barrels of oil per day.
Libya still has two governments: One recognized by the United Nations and based in Tripoli. The other is controlled by militia in the West.
Both governments are keen to increase revenue from higher oil production.
Libya launched its current bid round in March 2025, offering 22 bid blocks—half onshore, half offshore—including exploration and development opportunities.
“This agreement reflects our strong interest in deepening our partnership with NOC and supporting the future of Libya’s energy sector,” said William Lin, executive vice president, gas and low carbon energy at BP.
Lin also said BP will utilize its expertise “from redeveloping and managing giant oil fields around the world to help optimize the performance of these world-class assets.”
🚨Trend alert:
Libya’s ongoing exploration and development bid round represents one of the major access opportunities for IOCs.
BP and Shell have stated that they want to refocus on their core business of oil and gas, while a number of companies have stepped up looking at growth opportunities overseas.
In March 2025, BP signed a firm redevelopment deal with the Iraqi government to produce the Kirkuk Field.
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ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Energy made a second deepwater gas discovery in Block 10 in Cyprus, increasing the chance of Cyprus becoming a new gas-producing country.
Why it matters: Cyprus could become a new gas supplier to Europe to help it break away from dependence on Russian gas imports.
About the discovery:
The discovery, Pegasus-1, is located in Block 10, in which ExxonMobil made the first gas discovery Glaucus in 2019.
ExxonMobil’s Glaucus discovery is estimated to contain five to eight trillion cubic feet of gas.
Other gas discoveries in Cyprus:
There are three potential commercial gas projects in Cyprus.
In February, Chevron received government approval for a FLNG concept to develop the Aphrodite Gas Field in Block 12.
The Aphrodite Field was initially discovered by Noble Energy in 2012. Noble was acquired by Chevron in 2020.
ENI (operator, 50 percent) and partner TotalEnergies (50 percent) are finalizing their development plan for the three trillion-cubic-foot Cronos Gas Field in Block 6, with the concept to send gas through pipeline to be processed by an LNG plant in Egypt.
Without an existing LNG export facility in Cyprus, the IOCs are considering producing the gas using a FLNG or sending the gas to Egypt before exporting it to Europe.
In Egypt, there are two existing LNG export terminals that are short of supply gas to fully utilize their capacity.
What to watch:
Which development concept will ExxonMobil choose to commercialize its two gas discoveries in Cyprus?
Which IOC will be the first to produce gas from Cyprus?
Go deeper: As part of the Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy, Robin Mills and I published a detailed analysis on the potential gas development in Cyprus in 2023. You can read it here.
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