After announcing its concerns about oil production as a result of conflicts between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Government of National Accord (GNA), Chief Executive of Eni Claudio Descalzi told Reuters Friday that production in Libya is stable.
In September, Italy’s energy company Eni expressed its concerns about the security situation in Libya by the company’s general manager, saying that security events may affect the company’s medium-term activities in Libya.
However, Descalzi said production has not been affected by the events. One of the most important national projects linking the two countries is the natural gas line at the sea between Mellitah Company to southern Italy, which feeds 15 percent of Italy’s needs of its daily consumption.
ENI is one of the important and traditional partners of the National Oil Corporation. It oversees the operation of a number of projects, most notably Mellitah Oil & Gas.
According to Eni’s website, the company started operations in Libya in 1959. Production activity is carried out in the Mediterranean Sea near Tripoli and in the Libyan Desert area and includes six contractual areas.
“In the last months, the country reported a resurgence of socio-political instability coupled with internal clashes. Management is closely monitoring the situation and is evaluating any possible measure to safeguard safety of personnel and security of plants and production infrastructures,” according to a recent statement on the website.
In 2018, Eni signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the GECOL national power company and NOC oil state company that includes the start-up of a rehabilitation project for power plants to support access to energy for local communities.
Other Eni’s programs to support local communities progressed, according to Eni’s website. Moreover, it finalized an agreement with NOC oil state company and British Petroleum to award a 42.5-percent interest and the operatorship in the BP contractual areas, in particular in the onshore areas A and B and in the offshore area C.
Earlier this year, Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Polcino met with the head of the National Oil Corporation Mustafa Sannallah, and called for joint cooperation in the field of energy.
