Libya’s Oil Comeback Gains Pace as ExxonMobil Signs Exploration MoU with NOC

Tripoli | 5 August 2025 - In a move signaling renewed investor confidence in Libya’s post-conflict energy revival, ExxonMobil has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) to resume offshore exploration activities that had been suspended for more than a decade. The agreement, finalized in Tripoli on August 4, 2025, marks the US supermajor’s formal return to one of North Africa’s most geopolitically complex yet resource-rich producers.

The NOC has set an ambitious target to increase national output to 1.6 million barrels per day by 2026, backed by a $4 billion Programme aimed at rehabilitating critical infrastructure and drawing back major international oil companies (IOCs). ExxonMobil’s re-engagement comes amid favorable contract frameworks, improved security conditions, and broader geopolitical recalibration in the Mediterranean region. The return of the giant offshore drilling rig—recently redeployed after maintenance, adds technical momentum to NOC’s timeline for offshore ramp-up.

The renewed presence of ExxonMobil aligns with the NOC’s wider push to diversify Libya’s upstream portfolio and attract world-class technical partners. While the MoU stops short of detailing firm capital outlays, it reaffirms ExxonMobil’s long-term interest in Block 44 and other offshore opportunities, viewed as holding significant untapped potential.

Libya’s re-emergence is not occurring in isolation. Across Africa, national energy companies are entering a new cycle of re-engagement, with investors recalibrating risk profiles amid rising demand for low-cost barrels and strategic energy security priorities. ExxonMobil’s move also sets a precedent for how global majors may sequence re-entries into politically complex geographies, offering a playbook for engagement that could inform investor diplomacy across the continent.

As Libya works to meet its 2026 output target, the real test will lie in sustaining operational continuity, executing reforms, and insulating the sector from renewed political volatility. But for now, Tripoli’s petroleum diplomacy appears to be paying off—and the rest of Africa is watching.