Libya is openly inviting Turkey to fast-track oil and gas exploration across its territory, with Tripoli's Vice Presiden...

Libya is openly inviting Turkey to fast-track oil and gas exploration across its territory, with Tripoli's Vice President urging Ankara to move before other countries get there first. Musa al-Koni, Vice President of Libya's Presidential Council, told Turkey's state news agency that the vast majority of Libya's energy resources remain untouched and that Turkish firms should accelerate exploration and extraction without delay. He said he expects major Turkish companies to operate across Libya and made clear the invitation is urgent, not open-ended. Turkish media are framing this as a "new energy era," pointing to estimates of roughly 90 billion barrels of oil equivalent across Libyan territory. That figure is an estimate, not confirmed reserves, and around 70% of Libya's onshore and offshore energy areas are reportedly still unexplored. Turkey's state oil company TPAO already holds exploration rights in two Libyan blocks, one onshore and one offshore, in partnership with Spain's Repsol and Hungary's MOL. The latest push comes after Benghazi ratified the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum, the same deal Greece and several European countries have rejected as illegal under international law because it cuts across contested Mediterranean waters. The memorandum grants Turkey sweeping claims over a wide swath of the eastern Mediterranean, overlapping with areas Greece considers its own exclusive economic zone. Libya's invitation to rush in before competitors suggests Ankara is now looking to convert that disputed legal framework into concrete drilling operations on the ground and at sea. #Libya #Turkey #EasternMediterranean