Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has announced the revival of the project to develop an onshore oil field in Block 47 in the Ghadames basin.

Nafusa Oil Operations is planning to produce 10,000 barrels of oil a day (b/d) from the project, which it expects to come online in the second quarter of 2018, according to a statement released by Libya’s NOC.

Nafusa Oil Operations was formed in 2013 as a joint operating company by Indonesia’s PT Medco Energi Internasional, Libya’s NOC and the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA).

Under the new plans, it wants to split the project to develop Block 47 into two phases, with the first phase beginning at the start of 2018 if its budget is approved.

Libya’s NOC did not say what the project’s budget is in its latest form.

Originally the project had a budget of $800m.

Phase one of the latest version of the project is on a much smaller scale to the original project, which planned to produced 50,000 b/d, five times the amount that will be produced in phase one of the new project.

Whether or not this project will see much progress remains to be seen.

Libya has been engulfed in political chaos and civil unrest since its revolution in 2011.

This has reduced activity in the country’s energy sector to a very low level.

 Over 2017 there were no engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) awards for oil and gas projects in the country.