Eni, the Italian energy company, has announced that it made its second discovery of the year at an exploration prospect off the coast of Libya.

Eni said it made a natural gas and condensate discovery in so-called Area 3, a reserve area about 85 miles off the Libyan coast.

“The well represents the second discovery made by Eni in Libyan offshore Area D since the beginning of 2015,” the company said in a statement.

Production tests yielded a preliminary flow rate from the well at 1,340 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Eni estimates the well should be able to produce at least 3,000 boe per day at its peak.

Before NATO forces intervened in Libyan civil war in 2011, the country was producing more than 1 million bpd. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in its latest market report said production from member-state Libya was around 300,000 bpd.

Libya has been unable to coordinate political efforts across the wide range of groups vying for more power since civil war ended. The terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State, meanwhile, has gained a foothold in the war-torn country.

Italy received nearly 10 percent of its natural gas from Libya’s Greenstream pipeline before the Libyan civil war began in February 2011. Eni started production from Libyan offshore fields feeding that pipeline in 2004.

With a legacy extending back to 1959, Eni said it’s the largest international oil company working in Libya and is producing 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent from its assets there.

Source:  www.upi.com