Eni Restarts Offshore Drilling in Libya After Five-Year Hiatus
Edited By: Tendai Zola
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Sunday that Italy’s Eni North Africa has restarted exploratory drilling in the offshore Block 16/4, northwest of Libya, following a suspension that lasted more than five years.
The NOC confirmed that operations have resumed at exploration well C1-16/4 (also known as BESS-3), where work had been halted in April 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the Ensco 4005 rig had drilled to a depth of 1,012 feet before the project was sealed and abandoned as pandemic restrictions disrupted global oil operations.
Drilling has now recommenced using Saipem’s Scarabeo-9 rig, which has re-entered the well to continue operations. The target is to reach a final depth of 10,520 feet (3,200 meters), according to the NOC.
Located in Contract Area D—formerly designated MN 41—the C1-16/4 well lies at a water depth of around 743 meters, approximately 95 kilometers off the Libyan coast and 15 kilometers from the Bahr Essalam gas field, one of Libya’s most significant offshore gas developments.
The return of Eni’s operations is seen as a critical step in reviving Libya’s offshore exploration and signals renewed confidence in the country’s energy sector after years of instability and global disruption.
