Libya

Libya is home to Africa’s largest oil reserves and has been a major exporter of oil  and gas for several decades. Equinor has been present in Libya for more than  29 years with onshore exploration and oil production activities. Equinor participate in licences in the Mabruk field (NC 017) and in the Murzuq basin (NC 186 and I/R field). More recently, Equinor’s engagement in lifting and  marketing Libyan crude oil has become a growing part of their business activities.

In 2023, Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) signed an agreement with Equinor to assess offshore potential in the North African nation. According to Upstream Online, NOC stated it has inked a memorandum of understanding with Equinor, which “aims to study and evaluate the oil and gas potential in the Libyan maritime region”.

In 2008, the New York Times reported that Norsk Hydro – an oil and gas company bought by Equinor (then Statoil) – may have ‘made payments to win business in Libya that breached U.S. and Norwegian anti-corruption rules’. While the payments had taken place before Statoil’s takeover of the company, two of Statoil Hydro’s executive vice presidents resigned at the same time as the news emerged, but the company refused to say why they had quit their jobs.