Libya's latest bid round has attracted international investor interest. (Image source: Energy Capital & Power)

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.

The contract involves reimaging two legacy 3D seismic data sets. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Viridien, through its subsidiary CGG Services SAS, has been awarded a contract to reimage two legacy 3D seismic data sets totalling 2,400 sq km in the Hassi Bir Rekaiz concession in the Berkine Basin, Eastern Algeria

The contract was awarded by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz, a joint Sonatrach and PTTEP joint venture.

During the 13-month project, Viridien scientists are completely reimaging and merging the two legacy seismic datasets, originally acquired in 2011 and 2013. To meet the client’s challenging imaging objectives, Viridien is applying the latest technology to deliver more detailed seismic velocity modelling and improved reliability of seismic amplitude, phase and frequency attributes for quantitative interpretation and enhanced fault imaging.

Peter Whiting, EVP, Geoscience, Viridien, said, “We are happy to receive another award from Algeria, showing client confidence in our experience and differentiation in this growing market. We continue to develop and refine our technology, allowing us to extract more and more useful information from seismic data. This generates value for our clients, allowing them to do much more with the survey data they already have. The ultimate value lies in improved reservoir insights, reduction of uncertainties and increased drilling success.”

Last year, Viridien won a contract to conduct seismic imaging for a project in eastern Algeria for Groupement Berkine - a joint venture between Sonatrach and Occidental Petroleum, among other global partners. This imaging campaign covers an area of 3,400 sq km, capturing high-density onshore data set over blocks B404a and B208 of the Berkine Basin.

Algeria is seeking to increase oil and gas production, boost foreign investment and advance exploration. To this end, the National Agency for the Valorization of Hydrocarbon Resources (ALNAFT) launched a bid round in October, as part of a five-year licensing plan. The offering consisted of six blocks covering 152,000 sq km. Closing date for bid submissions was 15 April.

The discoveries are in the Western Desert. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has announced that Khalda Petroleum Company has made three new oil and gas discoveries in the Western Desert

According to a ministry statement, the discoveries are expected to produce nearly 12mn barrels of oil equivalent and 4mn barrels of recoverable reserves.

The ministry said the three discoveries are estimated to produce 2,750 barrels of oil and condensates and 20mn cubic feet of gas per day.

The discoveries will raise the gas production of Khalda Petroleum Company, a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and US Apache Corporation, to over 480mn cubic feet.

At its General Assembly meeting in March, Khalda Petroleum Company chairman Saeed Abdel Moneim said the company is planning to invest around US$1bn during FY 2024/25 and achieved 10 oil discoveries during the first half of the current fiscal year, which have added reserves estimated at approximately 35mn barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

This year has seen a high level of exploration and production activity in Egypt. Earlier this year, bp announced it had discovered substantial oil and natural gas reserves in the King Mariout offshore block in the northern Mediterranean. bp also announced the start of production ahead of schedule from the second development phase of the Raven field, part of the West Nile Delta (WND) project offshore Egypt, in late February. The project involves the subsea tieback of additional Raven infill wells to its existing onshore infrastructure. The new wells are expected to produce around 220bn cubic feet of gas and 7mn barrels of condensate.

In January, ExxonMobil Egypt, a subsidiary of U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil, announced it had made a gas discovery as part of a drilling campaign in the North Marakia Block offshore Egypt.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is currently evaluating bids for 13 exploration and production areas, with offers totalling more than US$700mn in expected investments. These cover four blocks in the Mediterranean, and nine blocks onshore. The ministry is reported to be preparing to launch new investment opportunities, including additional exploration areas and mature fields, through the open acreage system. It is actively encouraging international energy companies to boost production by leveraging advanced technologies.

The new discoveries are in the Eastern Region and Empty Quarter. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, has announced that Aramco has discovered 14 Arabian oil and natural gas fields and reservoirs in Eastern Region and the Empty Quarter

The discoveries include six fields and two reservoirs of oil, as well as two fields and four reservoirs of natural gas. The oill. discoveries  amount to a total of 5,801 bpd from the Eastern region, and 2,325 bpd from the Empty Quarter, giving a total of 8,126 bpd, along with 2.11 mmscf/d of associated gas. The natural gas discoveries amount to a total of 80.5 mm scf/day along with 6,010 bbl condensate.

While these are modest compared to the Kingdom’s vast reserves of more than 260bn bbl, the second largest in the world, the Minister stressed the significance of the added value that these discoveries represent, cementing the Kingdom’s leading position in the global energy sector, reinforcing its rich hydrocarbon potential and strengthening its ability to meet both domestic and global energy demand efficiently and sustainably, as well as supporting the Kingdoms ambitious Vision 2030 development plans.

Oil prices are however currently at a relatively low level, having recently dropped below US$60/bbl in the face of a perfect storm of recession fears following the imposition of US tariffs and the unwinding of OPEC production cuts. Saudi Arabia, which has shouldered most of the burden of OPEC production cuts, is currently producing around 9mn bpd, and with the unwinding of OPEC production cuts, is due to bump that up to 9.2mn bpd in May.

Aramco intends to maintain its position as the world’s largest crude oil company by production volume, and is progressing several crude oil increments that are scheduled to come onstream in the coming years to sustain maximum sustainable capacity at 12mn bpd, although it has abandoned previous plans to raise this further to 13mn bpd. It is instead strengthening its focus on gas, including the development of its unconventional gas resources.

Downstream, Aramco intends to continue the strategic integration of its Upstream and Downstream businesses, grow its liquids-to-chemicals business and enhance its domestic and global Downstream businesses in key high-growth geographies such as China, India, and Southeast Asia. In recent developments, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), and Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (Yasref) have announced the signing of an agreement intended to pave the way for a major petrochemical expansion at Yasref, in Yanbu, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. It will involve the creation of a state-of-the-art petrochemical unit, a large-scale mixed feed steam cracker with a 1.8 million tons per year capacity, and a 1.5 million tons per year aromatics complex with associated downstream derivatives integrated into the existing Yasref complex. This is expected to enhance Yasref’s ability to meet the growing demand for high-quality petrochemical products.