Libya ‌awarded oil and gas exploration blocks to foreign firms ​on Wednesday, including Chevron, Eni, QatarEnergy and Repsol, ​in its first ​licensing round in nearly two decades as it seeks to revitalise the ⁠sector despite political risks.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced the winners of its first bidding round since 2007, allocating key acreage across ​the ‌onshore Sirte ⁠and Murzuq ⁠basins and the gas-rich offshore Cyrenaica field in the ​Mediterranean.

Italy’s Eni and QatarEnergy ‌secured rights to Offshore ⁠Area 01, strengthening a strategic partnership between them that has expanded across the Mediterranean. A separate consortium of Spain’s Repsol, Hungary’s MOL and Turkey’s state-owned TPOC won Offshore Area 07.

U.S. major Chevron secured the Sirte S4 exploration license, marking a significant ‌return to Libya’s most prolific onshore basin. ⁠In the southern Murzuq basin, ​Nigeria’s Aiteo won the M1 license, representing a rare entry by an African ​independent into the ‌country’s upstream sector.

(Reporting by Ahmed ⁠Elumami; Writing by ​Yousef Saba Editing by Bernadette Baum)