Hungary’s MOL Group has signed a new strategic partnership with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), marking a fresh step in the company’s push to expand its international upstream footprint and diversify crude supply sources.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Budapest on January 30 by MOL Group Chairman and CEO Zsolt Hernádi and Masoud Suleman, Chairman of Libya’s NOC. The agreement establishes a framework for cooperation across hydrocarbons exploration and production, technological innovation, oilfield services, and crude trading.
Under the MoU, MOL and NOC will exchange technical and commercial information and jointly evaluate potential projects in Libya, including upstream exploration opportunities and field-development technologies. The agreement also covers crude supply and trading cooperation, an increasingly strategic priority for European energy companies seeking diversification amid geopolitical uncertainty.
Hernádi emphasized that Libya’s oil and gas sector remains a critical pillar of global energy supply, while highlighting the broader strategic implications for Europe. “From the perspective of security of supply and energy sovereignty, particularly for landlocked countries, diversification of sources is of crucial importance,” he said, adding that the partnership also includes rebuilding educational and scientific ties between the two sides.
The Libya agreement fits squarely into MOL’s long-term SHAPE TOMORROW strategy, which targets maintaining production of at least 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day over the next five years. MOL currently has exploration and production assets in nine countries, with active production in eight, including Croatia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Egypt, and Hungary.
In recent months, MOL has stepped up its international outreach, signing cooperation agreements with KazMunayGas, SOCAR, and Turkish Petroleum. These partnerships have already translated into new onshore exploration activity in Azerbaijan and joint exploration programs in Hungary.
For Libya, the partnership signals renewed engagement with European operators at a time when the country is seeking to stabilize output, modernize infrastructure, and attract international expertise. For MOL, it represents another move to reinforce supply resilience while expanding its upstream portfolio beyond its traditional core markets.
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