Mellitah Oil & Gas BV joint venture, a partnership between Eni SPA and the Libyan National Oil Corp. (NOC)  started hydrocarbon production from Bahr Essalam gas field about 100 km off the coast of Libya.

Production was enabled by the Sabratha compression project, an offshore development designed to sustain and increase gas output from the field.

The project included installation of a new 1,600-tonne compression module on the Sabratha platform, equipped with new compression trains, providing an overall compression capacity of about 440 MMcfd.

The new module enables production under low-pressure conditions, offsetting the natural decline of Bahr Essalam field and maximizing gas recovery to ensure increased gas volumes about 800 million cu m/yr and associated condensate.

The additional production will help sustain national power generation and support export to Italy via the Greenstream pipeline.

Two additional strategic projects are presently in execution in the country: Bouri gas utilization project, whose tie-in and commissioning activities are currently underway after the recent installation of the Bouri gas recovery module, and Structures A&E, whose execution is underway for development of two offshore gas fields.