A number of agreements signed last week by Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) are said to be aimed at enhancing the digital infrastructure of oil-rich cities in the country.
Strategic cooperation agreements have been made with government-owned telecommunications providers Almadar, Libyana and Hatif Libya as part of an initiative called Toward Smart Oil Cities.
The aim of these agreements is to modernise and enhance digital infrastructure across Libya’s oil-producing regions, using state-of-the-art communication and information technology (ICT) frameworks to bolster sustainability, improve operational efficiency, and optimise production workflows within the hydrocarbon sector, according to a statement on NOC’s Facebook page.
The usefulness of advanced digital communication infrastructure in enabling intelligent resource management, optimising operational processes, and ensuring long-term operational resilience was cited, and in particular its potential role in enabling significant productivity gains and a reduction in operational expenditures.
According to a number of local press reports, representatives from the telecom companies said that the use of advanced communication platforms would significantly enhance the real-time monitoring, control and analysis of large-scale data streams associated with oil extraction and processing.
All of which is both feasible and already happening in some countries. Indeed, this year alone has seen operator Indosat launch AI solutions for Indonesia’s oil and gas sector and an announcement at MWC 24 that satellite and terrestrial network operator Intelsat and telecommunications firm Saudi Net Link (SNL) have worked together to provide capacity and services to a Saudi-based, globally integrated energy and chemicals company.
For now, however, the Libyan agreement is thin on detail and timescales – and NOC has other issues to worry about. Reuters reported recently that Libyan oil exports fell around 81% in early September as NOC cancelled cargoes amid a crisis over control of Libya's central bank and oil revenue.
