PENNENERGY - Germany's Siemens says it has signed contracts worth some 700 million euros ($824 million) to build two gas-powered electricity plants in Libya.

Gas from Zohr will also help ease pressure on the economy of the most populous Arab nation, which has been plagued by a shortage of foreign currency since a 2011 uprising. Zohr, which Eni discovered in August 2015, has an estimated reserve of about 850 billion cubic meters of natural gas in place.

BLOOMBERG - With a fragile political accord barely holding the country together, Libya faces an array of challenges preventing its return to the output levels of about 1.6 million barrels a day pumped before the 2011 uprising against Muammar Qaddafi.

BLOOMBERG - Libya, which has been stepping up efforts to boost oil output, will maintain its current production level until the end of next year to stay in line with OPEC’s agreement to trim global supplies.

Rosneft closed the deal to acquire a 30% stake in the concessions agreement for the development of Zohr field, the largest gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, from Italian company Eni S.p.A.

Three Libyan oilfields have gone offline and output has declined by 360,000 bopd after militia violence, the country’s NOC announced.

Libya's oil production is 1.069 million b/d, and the country hopes to grow its output to as much as 1.25 million b/d this year, a source close to production said Monday.

The approval by the IMF Executive Board of the First Review of the program shows the IMF’s strong support for Egypt in these efforts.

Private investment in U.S. natural gas and oil infrastructure could create over 1 million U.S. jobs.

Libya froze all new foreign investment in 2011 after the civil war that toppled strongman Moammar Gadhafi. International oil companies such as Total SA of France and ConocoPhillips have long had operations in Libya, and Eni SpA of Italy has found ways to keep pumping even as clashes among warring militias and Islamic State damaged the country’s oil infrastructure.

Operations have restarted at two key oil fields and a connected pipeline in Western Libya that have been shut down for over two years, Libyan officials said, following an agreement with local tribes.

Eni has agreed a $1.125bn deal to sell a 30 per cent stake in its giant Egyptian gas field Zohr to Rosneft, as the Italian company continues efforts to monetise the recently-discovered field.

"Libya is in such a dangerous economic situation, there is no way it can participate in OPEC production cuts for the foreseeable future," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla told delegates at the Arab-Austrian Economic Forum in Vienna on Friday, according to an NOC statement.

BP announced that it has agreed to buy from Eni a 10% interest in the Shorouk concession offshore Egypt, which contains the super-giant Zohr gas field, for $375 million.

"I came here to meet with the Iranian petroleum minister just before attending the crucial meeting of OPEC members in Algiers and Minister Zangeneh assured me here that he would do and Iran would do everything possible to reach the consensus and to work for it," the official added.