Italy’s Eni, Libya’s largest foreign oil operator, has restarted offshore oil exploration, just over a week after the resumption of onshore oil exploration activities for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war.

The exploration is taking place at Eni’s Block MN-41 concession, 100 kilometres off the coast of Tripoli, according to a 5 March statement from state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).

Benghazi-based Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco), an NOC subsidiary restarted survey work at its onshore concession in the Ghadames basin in western Libya on 25 February.

Offshore production has played only a limited role in Libya’s oil sector so far. Eni’s concession sits in the offshore Pelagian basin, northwest of Tripoli along with six other concessions. Output is driven by the Bouri field in the NC-41 concession operated jointly by Eni and NOC and produced 60,000 barrels a day (b/d) in 2010.  The field was shutdown in February 2011, but did not sustain any damage in the conflict.