Libya’s interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC) has clarified its position on oil contracts with Italy’s Eni, saying it has no plans to review deals signed with the firm.

“To avoid confusion, the intended review and audit are of the projects included in the memorandum of understanding between Eni and Libya in the field of sustainable development, and does not include oil and gas agreements signed between the parties,” says the NTC in a 2 January statement.

The clarification follows a press release from the NTC’s media and communications committee in Tripoli, which gave details on a meeting between the interim prime minister Abdulrahim al-Keib and Eni’s general manager Paolo Scaroni on 28 December.

The original release stated that the agreements signed between Eni and the government had “collapsed” and would be reviewed “in line with the interests of Libya before the completion of implementation”.

Al-Keib noted that the international oil companies had a role to play in Libya, but “the foreign companies that were operating in Libya [need] to show the Libyans that it was a partner of Libya and not of [deposed leader Muammar] Qaddafi and his regime.”

Eni signed a deal with the NTC in August to resume its crude oil production in Libya. The company has lifted production to 70 per cent of its pre-civil war output at approximately 200,000 barrels a day (b/d).

The Italian firm has stakes in four Libyan fields with a total production of 274,900 b/d; the Bouri field produces 44,500 b/d, the Elephant field about 127,000 b/d, the Rimal field with 30,000 b/d and the Bu Attifel field with 73,400 b/d.

Nuri Berruien, chairman of state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) says Libya is now pumping more than 1 million b/d and could reach pre-war output of 1.6 million b/d by the middle of 2012. The government plans to lift oil production to 2 million b/d over the next three-to-five years’ time, according to Oil Minister Abdul- Rahman Ben Yezza (MEED 28:12:11).