Libya Wednesday awarded two gas exploration contracts to U.S. fuel giant Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and Germany's RWE (RWEOY), according to Tripoli's National Oil Corporation.
Occidental was granted four exploration blocks in the Sirte basin around 600 kilometres east of the capital, comprising a total area of around 5,000 square kilometres.
RWE was awarded an exploration zone of four blocks and spanning 10,289 square kilometres in the Berka region near Benghazi, around 1,000 kilometres east of Tripoli.
Sunday, Libya awarded four potentially lucrative gas contracts to Shell (RDSB) , Gazprom (GAZP.RS), Sonatrach and Poland's PGNIG -- the first ever given to foreign firms.
A total of 35 companies had been pre-selected to bid for the dozen contracts to explore 41 gas blocks in the Mediterranean. The blocks cover a total of 72, 500 square kilometres, an area about the size of Scotland.
It was the first time Libya invited tenders for natural gas exploration. Six further contracts have yet to be awarded.
OPEC member Libya is the African continent's second-largest oil producer at 1.7 million barrels per day. It also has natural gas reserves estimated at 1,314 billion cubic metres.
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