Italy’s Eni considers Libya a key country for upstream activities and plans to start exploration in the Ghadames basin next year, the energy group’s head of North Africa and Levant said on Monday.

“We have never stopped looking at Libya as a crucial region for oil and gas production,” Martina Opizzi said during a panel discussion on Libya’s energy sector organised in Rome by Energy Capital & Power.

“We estimate that there are still resources to be discovered and we are also planning offshore exploration in the near future,” Opizzi added.

Oil exports at major Libyan ports were halted last month and production curtailed across the country amid a standoff between rival political factions over control of the central bank and oil revenue.

Production started to recover in the first half of September, but the dispute on the central bank has not be resolved. Source: Reuters