The National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Friday that the Al-Asar discovery made by the Austrian company OMV in the Sirte oil basin in central Libya is commercial.

The NOC said in a statement that this announcement followed the drilling of well “B1-106/4” and the completion of an evaluation of the development plan submitted by the Austrian company to the NOC, noting that “the study confirmed the commercial viability of the discovery.”

The NOC confirmed that the total reserves of the Al-Asar discovery amount to 195 million barrels of oil from the Upper and Lower “Al-Sabeel” reservoirs, with production capacity expected to reach approximately 5,000 barrels of oil per day.

It noted that development operations for this discovery will be initiated by the operator, the Zueitina Oil Operations Company, and expects to bring the discovery online as soon as possible due to its proximity to surface facilities.

The Al-Asar Oil Discovery in the Sirte Basin

The oil discovery made by OMV Limited's Libya Branch in Well “B1” in Block 106/4 of the Sirte Basin in central Libya on October 29, 2025, marks the Austrian company’s first exploration activity in the region.

Preliminary estimates by the NOC projected that the discovery would yield more than 4,200 barrels of oil per day, while its gas production rates would exceed 2.6 million cubic feet per day.