Eni joint venture advances $8 billion Libya giant gas project

Italian energy giant Eni and partner the National Oil Corporation of Libya (NOC) have agreed to develop the Structures A&E giant gas project with overall estimated investments of $8 billion, including a related carbon capture and storage facility, confirming an earlier Upstream exclusive that the final investment decision would be taken in 2023.

Structures A&E will be is the first major project in Libya since the early 2000s and involves development of two gas fields — the A and E structures — located in contractual area D, offshore Libya.

First gas from the duo is targeted for 2026 and will reach a combined plateau production of 750 million cubic feet per day.

The fields’ development will centre on two main platforms tied into the existing treatment facilities at the Mellitah Complex.

The project also includes construction of a CCS facility at Mellitah, allowing a significant reduction of the overall carbon footprint, in line with Eni’s decarbonisation strategy.

The overall estimated investment will amount to $8 billion, “with significant impact on the industry and the associated supply chain, allowing a significant contribution to the Libyan economy”, noted Eni.

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Upstream exclusively revealed in June 2022 that the Structures A&E base-case development calls for an 85,000-tonne processing platform and a smaller wellhead platform that together will produce 760 million cubic feet per day of gas, 42,000 barrels per day of condensate and 5000 bpd of oil.

The major Structure E platform is set to handle output from 23 wells — including five subsea wells — with 600 MMcfd of gas and 30,000 bpd of liquids sent via two pipelines to a facility at Mellitah on the coast.

Meanwhile, some 160 MMcfd of gas plus 12,000 bpd of liquids from the eight-well Structure A wellhead platform is due to be exported to Eni’s existing Sabratha platform via a multiphase pipeline.

Exports to Europe

Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi and NOC chief executive Farhat Bengdara on 28 January formally sanctioned the Structures A&E development, which Eni hailed as a strategic project aimed at increasing gas production to supply the Libyan domestic market as well as to ensure export to Europe.

“This agreement will enable important investments in Libya’s energy sector, contributing to local development and job creation while strengthening Eni’s role as a leading operator in the country,” said Descalzi.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Libyan Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Al-Dbeibah.

Eni is the leading international gas producer in Libya, with a share of 80% of the national production — 1.6 billion cubic feet per day in 2022. Its operations are run through the joint company Mellitah Oil & Gas, a 50:50 Eni-NOC joint venture and the average equity production last year was 165,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.