Libya's stepping stone to normality

Eni leads a return to oil exploration in Libya for the first time since the 2011 Arab Spring revolution

Eni's deal was as eye-catching as it was surprising. On 8 October, the Italian major and BP announced exploration would begin next year on huge and potentially mouth-watering blocks of Libyan real estate. Eni has taken half of BP's 85pc stake in three exploration zones. Two of the zones—in which 15pc stakes are held by the Libyan Investment Authority, the country's sovereign wealth fund—are onshore, totalling 54,000 sq km in the south-western Ghadames Basin; the third consists of four offshore blocks stretching across the Gulf of Sirte. BP has already completed 3D seismic surveys there, reportedly indicating big oil and gas reserves. Over the past two years, in the teeth of civil war and an