ExxonMobil goes back into offshore Libya

Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corp. said Dec. 5 it has agreed to an exploration and production sharing pact with Libya’s National Oil Corp. — the company’s first re-entry into that country since leaving in the early 1980s.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement covers 2.5 million acres of the Cyrenaica basin in waters between 10-feet and 10,000-feet deep.

Exxon exited the country in 1981; Mobil had left in 1982, according to ExxonMobil spokesman Len D’Eramo. In 1986, the United States imposed comprehensive trade and financial bans on Libya.

Shares of ExxonMobil gained 44 cents to close at $59.51 Dec. 5 on the New York Stock Exchange.

—The Associated Press