Eni Announces New Gas Find at Bahr Essalam, Expanding its Libyan Reserves
On Monday, Italian oil major Eni announced the discovery of two big gas finds off the coast of Libya, which will expand the supply available to European and Libyan customers.
The two new reservoirs - Bahr Essalam South 2 and 3 - are located about 45 nautical miles off the Libyan coast in about 650 feet of water. They are part of the Metlaoui Formation, like other successful finds nearby. Eni assesses that they are of a high quality and have commercial potential. Early volume estimates suggest a total capacity of more than one trillion cubic feet.
The newly-drilled reservoirs are located next to the existing Bahr Essalam field, and Eni plans to develop them quickly using tie-backs to current infrastructure.
Eni has a longstanding presence in Libya, and over decades of political change on shore it has helped developed energy resources on and offshore. Its current project list includes a JV with BP to drill Libya's first deepwater well in years, targeting another potential gas reservoir off the coast of Sirte.
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Eni continues to expand its footprint with new acreage. In the Libyan National Oil Company's 2025 licensing round - the first since 2007 - Eni secured a concession covering 29,000 square kilometers off Sirte. The firm says that the new area has significant potential for E&P, including acreage that has never been surveyed with 3D seismic and may have as-yet-undiscovered petroleum prospects. Eni bid for the lease in partnership with QatarEnergy, and will be the operating partner in the venture.
Libya aims to increase its gas production to one billion cubic feet per day (11 billion cubic meters per year) by the early 2030s and sell the output to energy-hungry Europe. This would maximize the potential of the 32-inch GreenStream pipeline, which carries Libya's export volume from a pumping station at Mellitah to a receiving station in Italy.