Libya has never been an easy environment for international oil companies. With its opaque political system and its own brand of socialism devised by Muammar Gaddafi, the leader for the past forty years, the country has always been something of a challenge to foreign investors lured by its huge oil reserves – the largest in Africa.

Oil companies from around the world rushed into Libya after 2004 when international sanctions were lifted and the country was finally able to open up its vast under-explored terrain. But so far new finds have been modest, and dealing with the authorities has become increasingly complicated.