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Libya’s latest upstream licensing round has already attracted more than 40 bids, according to Abdolkabir Alfakhry, Advisor to Libya’s Minister of Oil and Gas, signalling growing international interest in its largely untapped hydrocarbon potential

The bid round, launched in March, offers 22 blocks for exploration and development (11 Offshore and 11 Onshore) including areas with undeveloped discoveries estimated to contain a minimum of 2.0 Bboe in hydrocarbon resources.

The Minister, who was addressing a session sponsored by ConocoPhillips at the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris, noted that results of the bid round are expected around November. “This will open a new environment for international companies to work in Libya.”

Libya’s assets are underexplored, particularly offshore, Alfakhry said, pointing to the country’s strategic location on the Mediterranean and its proximity to European markets as key competitive advantages.

“The bid round signals Libya’s integration into the global energy market,” he said.

Steiner Våge, president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at ConocoPhillips, confirmed the U.S. major’s intention to deepen its engagement in Libya and across the African continent.

“Libya is a place where we can work – over the last few years, we’ve significantly increased production at the Waha concession,” said Vaage. “We want to see Libya prosper. We’d also like to transfer our knowledge, and we want to work with partners that have similar objectives – that is the starting point.”

At Libya Energy & Economic Summit 2025 earlier this year, Bashir Garea, technical advisor to the chairman of the NOC, highlighted the country’s immense oil and gas potential.

“We have 48 billion barrels of discovered but unexploited oil, with total potential estimated at 90 billion barrels, especially offshore,” he said, adding that Libya also has 122 trillion cubic feet of gas yet to be developed. “To unlock this potential, we need more investors and new technology, particularly for brownfield revitalisation.”

Oil majors including Eni Repsol, bp and OMV have recommenced exploration in Libya in recent months following a 10-year hiatus. However the recent eruption of violent clashes in Tripoli following the assassination of a powerful militia leader, shows that the current security situation is far from stable.

ASCO has signed an important nine-figure deal with a major North Sea oil operator, cementing its position as the energy industry's leading logistics provider.

The substantial five-year contract, worth roughly £150mn, begins on July 1, 2025. The scope includes ASCO's full range of integrated logistics services, such as quayside operations, warehousing, materials management, marine gas oil, environmental services, aviation, customs, freight forwarding, and ship agency.

The award is a significant milestone for ASCO, as it represents one of the company's largest and most comprehensive logistics contracts in recent history. It demonstrates the industry's trust in ASCO's demonstrated capacity to provide mission-critical support for complex offshore operations in one of the world's most challenging energy environments.

This latest award follows a string of significant wins in the North Sea, with long-term contracts won in the UK and Norway alone for more than £450mn in 2025.

It also represents a broader industry trend towards integrated logistics solutions that simplify operations and boost efficiency. ASCO's approach, which combines digital innovation with a sustainability-driven model, has proven successful in assisting operators in managing complicated offshore supply chains while maintaining a strong focus on safety and environmental responsibility.

“This is a transformational contract for ASCO, both in scale and strategic importance,” said Mike Pettigrew, ASCO chief executive officer. “It validates our deep expertise in the North Sea, where we have been operating for almost 60 years, and our ability to deliver end-to-end logistics solutions that are safe, efficient and resilient.

“We’re increasingly being recognised as a trusted partner in the global energy supply chain and are proud to play such a pivotal role in enabling safe and efficient offshore activity, while continuing to lead the way in supply chain transformation.” 

Borouge Plc and ADNOC Logistics & Services Plc have partnered to boost the production and export of petrochemicals from the UAE, as Borouge prepares to ramp up production capacity

Borouge plans to increase production capacity by 1.4 million tonnes per annum by the end of 2026 through its Borouge 4 mega project, which will make it the world’s largest single-site polyolefin complex. The 15-year US$531mn service agreement, which will drive cost savings and efficiencies as well as enhancing Borouge’s supply chain network, covers port management, container handling, and feeder container ship services for the Borouge Container Terminal in Al Ruwais Industrial City, Abu Dhabi. ADNOC L&S will manage the transportation of up to 70% of Borouge’s annual production, deploying a minimum of two dedicated container feeder ships to transport Borouge’s products from Al Ruwais to the deepwater ports of Jebel Ali in Dubai and Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi.

Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi, CEO of Borouge, commented, “This agreement builds on our longstanding collaboration with ADNOC L&S, a partnership that has been instrumental in meeting the evolving needs of our customers in high-growth markets. It brings significant benefits to Borouge; driving substantial operational cost savings and enhancing our Logistics Variable Cost (LVC), as well as complementing our existing rail operations and expanding the flexibility of our supply chain network. With the rapid increase in our production capacity, we are advancing our capabilities in delivering differentiated products and solutions efficiently, while keeping pace with rising global demand."

Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO of ADNOC L&S, added, “This comprehensive container terminal agreement marks a major milestone in our successful partnership with Borouge, delivering on ADNOC L&S’ strategy to provide seamless, end-to-end logistics solutions that power the UAE’s industrial growth and export ambitions. By leveraging our extensive maritime and logistics expertise, we are ensuring that Borouge’s world-class petrochemical products reach global markets efficiently and competitively.”

Energy technology company, SLB has launched Sequestri carbon storage solutions for the most effective project delivery 

Since long-term carbon storage demands a calculated approach, the new portfolio gives customised hardware and digital workflows for improved decision-making across the full carbon storage value chain, from site selection and planning to development, operations and monitoring.

“Advanced technology solutions have a crucial role to play in shifting the economics and safeguarding the integrity of carbon storage projects,” said Katherine Rojas, SLB’s senior vice president of Industrial Decarbonisation. “The Sequestri portfolio offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that provide the precision, reliability and efficiency needed to advance carbon storage projects at every stage of their lifecycle — driving meaningful progress toward industrial decarbonisation at scale.”

The Sequestri portfolio is anchored by a network of interconnected digital technologies and services for carbon storage that provide a robust foundation for analysis and prediction. These end-to-end digital technologies harness more than 25 years of carbon capture and storage (CCS) project experience to help developers screen, rank, design, model, simulate and analyse every phase of the project lifecycle. The portfolio also includes a range of technologies which have been specifically engineered and qualified for carbon storage applications, from subsurface safety valves and measurement tools to cementing systems, including SLB’s EverCRETE CO₂-resistant cement system.

The Sequestri portfolio of carbon storage solutions, together with the SLB Capturi standard, modular carbon capture solutions, provide emitters and project developers with a full suite of complementary CCS solutions to enable decarbonisation at scale from point of capture to permanent carbon storage.

Oil Review Middle East hosted a very well-attended webinar on 20 November on the future of offshore operations, in association with SAFEEN Group, part of AD Ports Group

The webinar explored the latest trends and challenges in the rapidly evolving world of offshore operations, focusing on groundbreaking innovations that are driving sustainable and efficient practices. In particular, it highlighted SAFEEN Green – a revolutionary unmanned surface vessel (USV), setting new benchmarks for sustainable and efficient maritime operations.

Erik Tonne, MD and head of Market Analysis at Clarksons, gave an overview of the offshore market, highlighting that current oil price levels are supportive for offshore developments, and global offshore capex is increasing strongly. The Middle East region will see significant capex increase over the coming years, with the need for rigs and vessels likely to remain high. Offshore wind is also seeing increased spending. Global rig activity is growing, while the subsea EPC backlog has never been higher, with regional EPC contracts seeing very high activity. Tonne forecast that demand for subsea vessels and other support vessels will continue to increase.

Tareq Abdulla Al Marzooqi, CEO SAFEEN Subsea, AD Ports Group, introduced SAFEEN Subsea, a joint venture with NMDC, which offers reliable and innovative survey, subsea and offshore solutions to support major offshore and EPC projects across the region. He highlighted the company’s commitment to sustainability, internationalisation and local content, and how it is a hub for innovations and new ideas, taking conceptual designs and converting them to commercial projects. A key project is SAFEEN Green, which offers an optimised inspection and survey solution.

Tareq Al Marzooqi and Ronald J Kraft, CTO, Sovereign Global Solutions ME and RC Dock Engineering BV. outlined the benefits and capabilities of SAFEEN Green as compared with commercial vessels, in terms of safety, efficiency, profitability and sustainability. It is 30-40% more efficient through the use of advanced technologies, provides a safer working environment given it is operated 24/7 remotely from a control centre, and offers swappable payload capacity. Vessels are containerised and can be transported easily to other regions. In terms of fuel consumption, the vessel is environment-friendly and highly competitive, reducing emissions by 90% compared with conventional vessels, with the ability to operate on 100% biofuel.

As for future plans, SAFEEN Green 2.0 is under development, which will be capable of carrying two inspection work-class ROVs simultaneously. A priority will be to collect data to create functional AI models for vessels and operations, with the first agent-controlled payload systems in prospect by around 2027.

To view the webinar, go to https://alaincharles.zoom.us/rec/share/mNHjZhAhQzn1sPzmFWZCgrq7_SckfLRcSb4w81I7aVlokO9sgHM_zVeOqgN3DgJS.bO4OIRqNeFP09SPu?startTime=1732095689000

Carbon capture and storage capacity is forecast to quadruple by 2030, and the Middle East has ‘significant CCS ambition’, according to a new report from DNV

Cumulative investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expected to reach US$80bn over the next five years, according to DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook: CCS to 2050 report.
Up to now, growth has been limited and largely associated with pilot projects, but a sharp increase in capacity in the project pipeline indicates that CCS is at a turning point. CCS will grow from 41 MtCO2/yr captured and stored today to 1,300 MtCO2/yr in 2050, which will be 6% of global emissions, DNV forecasts.

The immediate rise in capacity is being driven by short-term scale up in North America and Europe, with natural gas processing still the main application for the technology. Europe is moving projects forward amidst tightening emissions regulations and developers are advancing in the US, taking advantage of the established 45Q tax credit. Hard to abate industries such as steel and cement production are forecast to be the main driver of growth from 2030 onwards, accounting for 41% of annual CO2 captured by mid-century. Maritime onboard capture is expected to scale from the 2040s in parts of the global shipping fleet.

As the technologies mature and scale, the average costs will drop by an average of 40% by 2050.

Ditlev Engel, CEO, Energy Systems at DNV said “Carbon capture and storage technologies are a necessity for ensuring that CO2 emitted by fossil-fuel combustion is stopped from reaching the atmosphere and for keeping the goals of the Paris Agreement alive. DNV’s first Energy Transition Outlook: CCS to 2050 report clearly shows that we are at a turning point in the development of this crucial technology.

“The biggest barrier to the very much needed acceleration of CCS deployment is policy uncertainty. Policy shifts, not technology or costs, have been responsible for many CCS project failures. However, policy support for CCS is firming across most world regions.”

Recent turmoil and budgetary pressure in the global economy pose risks to CCS deployment, potentially shifting priorities and removing necessary finance needed.

Jamie Burrows, Global Segment Lead CCUS, Energy Systems at DNV said “CCS is entering a pivotal decade and the scale of ambition and investment must increase dramatically. It remains essential for hard-to-decarbonise sectors like cement, steel, chemicals, and maritime transport. But as DNV’s report shows, delays in reducing carbon dioxide emissions will place an even greater burden on carbon dioxide removal technologies. To stay within climate targets, we must accelerate the deployment of all carbon management solutions -from industrial capture to nature-based removal - starting today."

Middle East developments

DNV notes that the Middle East is home to three operational CCS projects and six under construction. Operating facilities include the Al Reyadah steel plant in the UAE, Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG Facility, and Saudi Arabia's Uthmaniyah gas processing plant.

The world’s largest CO2 utilisation facility, United Jubail Petrochemical, is also in Saudi Arabia. The facility converts 0.5 MtCO2/yr into feedstock for chemical processes.

The main focus of regional CCS development has evolved from EOR to decarbonising energy and the production of low-carbon fuels. The UAE's Long Term Strategy highlights CCS as crucial for industrial sector decarbonisation, targeting 43.5 MtCO2/yr capacity by 2050. ADNOC aims for 10 MtCO2/yr captured by 2030 and net-zero operations by 2045. ADNOC's Habshan and Ghasha Concession projects, each with capacity of 1.5 MtCO2/yr, are currently under construction.

Saudi Arabia aims to capture and store 44 MtCO2/ yr by 2035 and launched a domestic carbon crediting scheme in 2024. A CCS hub is under construction at Jubail, which will store 9 MtCO2/yr by 2027 from natural gas processing and industrial sources in an onshore saline aquifer.

Oman aims to utilise its pipeline infrastructure for hydrogen and CO2 transport in new CCS and EOR projects.

Direct air capture (DAC) projects are emerging in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman, often combined with CO2 mineralisation or sustainable aviation fuel production.