ROME (Alliance News) - British and Italian energy companies BP PLC and Enihave signed a deal with Libya's National Oil Corporation to jointly restart oil exploration activities in the North African country.
In a letter of intent, the three companies have agreed that ENI will take a 42.5% stake in BP's Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) in Libya, Enisaid in a statement on Monday.
EPSA covers two onshore sites and one offshore site, where operations were suspended in 2014. Security in Libya is precarious due to a near civil-war situation.
Following completion of the deal, BP's stake will fall from 85% to 42.5%, while the Libyan Investment Authority will continue to own a 15% stake.
"The parties intend to finalize and execute all necessary agreements by current year-end, with the aim of re-starting exploration activities in 2019," the statement said.
It also quoted Bob Dudley, chief executive of BP, as saying: "We believe that working closely together with Eni and with Libya will allow us to bring forward restarting exploration in these promising areas."
BP (BP.)