The National Oil Corporation (NOC) board has announced NOC’s approval of Total’s acquisition of Marathon Oil Libya Limited (MOLL)'s stake in the Waha concessions, which represents 16.33% of the concessions, with the NOC keeping 59.18% of the concessions.

The NOC said the French firm Total is going to invest 650 million dollars to develop the Waha concessions, increasing production by 180,000 barrels per day, adding that it is going to obtain 150 million dollars to support social responsibility and sustainable development programmes in the areas adjacent to oil operations.

NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said as a technical partner, Total will bring the right technology and experience to be able to deliver these gains, adding that NOC believes that Total is better placed to acquire MOLL’s stake in the Waha concessions than any other option.

"The review process has shown that while the option of acquiring MOLL's stake by the Libyan state would apparently increase total revenues for Libya, it would also entail significant financial obligations to fund operations, development implementation and increased production." Sanallah explained.

NOC said it had secured a 150 million USD signature bonus to be allocated for corporate social responsibility, as we believe in the importance of implementing concrete projects.

NOC also said it will directly supervise the implementation of these projects in line with its community support criteria and values.

After the new deal, The NOC now holds (59.18%), Total (16.33%), ConocoPhillips (16.33%) and Hess (8.16%) as joint owners of the Waha Concessions, knowing that Waha Oil Company is a 100% NOC owned entity and it operates the asset.