Mellitah Oil and Gas Company, a 50-50 joint venture of Italy’s Eni and Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC) has revived a $100m project to upgrade the nitrogen system at one of its Libyan oil fields, signalling improving confidence in its ability to operate in the midst of the country’s worsening conflict.

Mellitah has invited companies interested in prequalifying for the project to submit documents by April.

The project involves upgrading a nitrogen gas system known as unit 320, at a natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery plant at the A100 oil field in Libya’s contract area B, located in the country’s eastern desert.

Its aim is to increase the rate of nitrogen production as well as increasing the purity of the gas produced.

The revival of the project comes as the international community is becoming increasingly worried about Libya’s internal conflict.

In a matter of months, the jihadist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis) has claimed territory in at least three of Libya’s cities and carried out attacks in Tripoli, the country’s capital.

The scope of work includes:

• Overhauling the existing nitrogen gas system (train 1) with capacity of 1,200 cubic metres an hour (cm/h)
• Replacing parts of existing equipment (Absorption media, molecular sieve, butterfly valves, compressors line drain system)
• Installation of new equipment (water-cooled refrigeration dryer, safety valves)
• Dismantling and removal of parts of existing equipment (cooling water, refrigeration dryer)
• Installing a new nitrogen gas system (train 2) in parallel with existing gas system (train 1)
• Installing a new 1,350-metre-long nitrogen gas distribution pipeline from the natural gas liquids (NGL) plant to the oil centre produced water treatment and re-injection facilities (PWTRF) using 3-inch pipe