Summary:

On 8 July 2026, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement (EPSA) with Qatar-based UCC Holding for Area 47 in the Ghadames Basin in western Libya, with the deal valued at approximately $1 billion.

The agreement was announced by NOC Chairman Masoud Suleiman and covers the North Hamada field, with a target of increasing crude oil production from approximately 33,000 barrels per day to 80,000 barrels per day, alongside utilization of associated gas for electricity generation. The project will be fully financed by UCC.

UCC Holding is a Qatari-Syrian private firm operating through its subsidiary Urbacon Energy Libya, and has previously established an upstream presence in Syria and Iraq.

The deal marks the second Gulf state company to sign an upstream agreement in Libya within weeks, following Oman’s OQ Exploration and Production, whose chairman explicitly cited the need to reduce dependence on Strait of Hormuz export routes as a driver for the Libya engagement. The NOC also signed agreements with Eni, QatarEnergy, and Repsol during the same period. Libya’s crude output has risen to approximately 1.5 million barrels per day, its highest level in 13 years, including around 1.4 million barrels per day of crude and approximately 49,000 barrels per day of condensates.

Outlook: 

The UCC deal reflects a shift in how Gulf-based investors and state-linked energy companies are approaching Libya. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz since February 2026 has evolved the calculus around Mediterranean supply routes, making Libya’s export infrastructure, which bypasses Gulf chokepoints entirely, more strategically valuable to producers and buyers alike. The clustering of Gulf deals within a short timeframe suggests this is not opportunistic but reflects a deliberate reorientation of upstream investment toward Mediterranean-facing assets.

For the NOC, the concurrent signings with UCC, QatarEnergy, Eni, and Repsol represent the most concentrated period of upstream deal activity in Libya in nearly two decades. The durability of this momentum will depend on whether Libya’s political environment can provide the stability required for long-cycle investment commitments, particularly given that project implementation under the UCC agreement remains contingent on the completion of technical studies and regulatory approvals.

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