After an absence of more than 30 years,BP is returning to Libya through the front door.On 29 May it signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement with the National Oil Corporation (NOC) in conjunction with its direct partner,Libya Investment Corporation (LIC),which covers zones totaling 54,000 sq km in the onshore Ghadames basin and the offshore Sirte basin (see map on following page) and calls for the British company to spend at least 900 million on exploring the acreage.Moreover,a spokesman for BP in London told AOG on 30 May that the company expected to invest around 1.2 billion in its exploration program.If that is successful,which BP regards as highly likely,it could spend a further 800 million on appraisal work,making a total of 2 billion during the exploration and appraisal phase of the agreement,which is due to last for seven to 10 years.This is the largest commitment the British company has made to an exploration program anywhere in the world.Questioned on that particular point by AOG,the spokesman confirmed that never in its history had the company undertaken such an ambitious exploration program in terms of the area covered and the scale and intensity of the work program.
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