Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum (BP) are believed to have signed annual deals to buy Libyan crude, after a remarkable recovery in Libya's production and security conditions.

Bloomberg reported that Europe’s biggest oil company - Shell - will load its first cargo under the contract within days, citing anonymous sources from the company as saying that the deal with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) was the first of its kind since 2013.

"BP, which didn't have a term deal in 2017, also reached an agreement for this year with the NOC." It added.

According to the deal, Shell is set to start loading 600,000 barrels of crude from Zueitina oil terminal on Saturday, which will mark the company’s first direct loading from Libya in years.

According to a document obtained by Bloomberg, in August, Shell bought its first shipment of Libyan crude in five years in a spot deal, while neither Shell nor BP was on the NOC’s list of 2017 term buyers, which includes companies such as Vitol Group, Glencore Plc, Total SA and OMV AG.

Libya’s oil production experienced a hike to about 1 million barrels per day in the first month of 2018, according to reports cited by Bloomberg.