Austria's OMV has agreed to buy a 7% stake in Libya's Nafoura oil field from Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY), increasing its share in the field, two Libyan oil officials told Reuters on Jan. 27.
A spokesman from OMV and a spokeswoman from Occidental declined to comment.
The sale, reported earlier on Jan. 27 by industry publication International Oil Daily, was finalized late in 2016, the two sources said, though it remains unclear how much OMV paid.
The field has reserves of 7.5 billion barrels, energy consultant WoodMackenzie estimated.
OMV and Occidental agreed to develop the field along with Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp. subsidiary Agoco in 2008 through an exploration- and production-sharing agreement.
OMV has been present in Libya since 1975 and started production in 1985, the year it acquired 25% of Occidental's producing assets in the country.
Occidental said in 2013 that it was planning to sell a minority stake in its Middle East and North African operations as part of a restructuring aimed at boosting its valuation.
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