Saipem Installs New Gas Module at Libya’s El Bouri Field, Boosting Output
Italian engineering company Saipem has installed a new gas extraction module at Libya’s offshore El Bouri field, marking a key step in the country’s efforts to increase gas production and reduce flaring.
The operation supports the El Bouri Gas Utilization Project, led by Mellitah Oil & Gas, a joint venture between Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Italy’s Eni. The project focuses on capturing associated gas that oil production previously flared or wasted.
The newly installed module increases production capacity to around 2 million cubic meters of gas per day. It also improves efficiency across existing offshore infrastructure. Saipem carried out the installation using its heavy-lift vessel Saipem 7000, one of the world’s largest crane ships.
The module weighs more than 5,000 tonnes and took nearly two years to build at Rosetti Marino’s shipyard in Italy. Engineers designed it to process and recover gas directly at the offshore platform before sending it to the Mellitah complex for domestic use and export.
The project also targets environmental improvements. It reduces gas flaring and cuts carbon emissions by an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year, according to project data. This makes it one of the most important emissions-reduction upgrades in Libya’s offshore energy sector.
Libya continues to rely heavily on oil and gas revenues, but the El Bouri upgrade shows a shift toward improving efficiency rather than only expanding output. The project strengthens Libya’s partnership with Italian energy firms and reinforces the role of offshore gas in future production growth.
As global energy markets remain volatile, Libya’s focus on gas recovery and infrastructure upgrades could support more stable long-term output. The El Bouri installation marks another step in that direction.
