Japanese firms won the lion's share of Libya's latest international energy licensing round, fighting off stiff competition from global oil majors for acreage in the Opec producer.
Tarek Hassan-Beck, a top official at state-run National Oil Corp (NOC), told Reuters on Monday that high oil prices had helped lure foreign interest and Libya's energy sector would see "substantial investment."
The North African producer also plans to hold a third oil and gas licence round in the first half of 2006 after racking up $103 million in bonuses from its second, post-sanctions round on Sunday.
"It was quite a tight race. Last night, it was cut-throat competition...The Japanese were the big winners...followed by ENI (of Italy) and Statoil (of Norway)," Hassan-Beck said in a telephone interview.
"Offering numbers like these tells you what they feel about the price of the barrel (of oil)...This gives you a feeling that the price of oil will be favourable through the years that it will take to explore and develop the blocks."
Libya, viewed as one of the most promising for companies starved of fresh oil and gas acreage, is seeking foreign investment after the United States eased economic sanctions last year, allowing oil firms to return.
Libya has said it is targeting a rise in oil output to three million barrels per day (bpd) from current rates of 1.63 million bpd. Its oil is cheap to extract and generally light and low in sulphur, as favoured by refineries, though also waxy and thick.
"What this (round) tells us is that Libya is attractive and that international companies want to be part of the action," Hassan-Beck said.
An NOC official said earlier that the round earned Tripoli $103 million in signature bonuses.
US oil major Exxon Mobil was also among winners in the second round in which a total of 44 blocks were on offer.
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