The Libyan National Oil Cooperation (NOC) said Thursday that a senior delegation arrived in China at the invitation of the country’s leading oil major China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to discuss investment and enhanced cooperation opportunities in the Libyan oil and gas sector.

The NOC delegation, headed by chairman Eng. Mustafa Sanalla, was welcomed by CNPC’s vice president and president of PetroChina, Hou Qijun, and the chairmen of CNPC's subsidiaries.

"Mr. Hou expressed China and CNPC’s direct interest in progressing cooperation in Libyan exploration and development, oilfield services, and trading of Libyan crude, with parties potentially cementing future relations through the signature of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at their next meeting." NOC said in a statement.

NOC's Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said they met in China some of the highest qualified companies in oil industry and shared with them opportunities for reconstruction and development investment in our local oil sector.

"With a more stable security environment, we could easily add between 300-400,000 barrels to daily production and grow oil revenue receipts. Our long-term strategy is to produce 2.1 million bpd by 2023. China can help us on that journey." Sanallah added.

Sanallah added that the NOC hopes that China and its leading oil sector companies will become partners to the NOC's vision for the local oil sector based on mutual opportunities through oil and gas imports, joint exploration and development, and the sharing of technical expertise."