The onshore oilfield development, known as the Area 47 development project, is located in the Hamada region, about 200km south of Tripoli, in the Ghadames Basin.

The project will feature about 34 producing wells, including 11 existing wells and around 23 new wells, flow-lines as well as a common gathering trunk-line.

Foster Wheeler Global Engineering and Construction Group chief executive officer Roberto Penno said, "Area 47 is located in a relatively remote part of Libya, so the facilities are being designed on a modular basis in order to minimize on-site construction and installation activities, and to accommodate future expansion."

Upon separation, the oil and gas produced will be exported via new pipelines linking into the current pipelines that take products to the Mellitah delivery terminal, in the northwest of Libya, on the Mediterranean Sea, for export.

The proposed design capacity of the gas oil separation facility is 50,000 barrels per day of oil, 90 million standard cubic feet per day of gas and associated water.

Taknia Libya Engineering Company managing director Tayeb Said said, "We hope this partnership will open the door for more co-operation between the two parties to execute more projects in the Libyan market and more significantly help enhance the technology transfer program that Taknia is implementing."

Nafusah Oil Operations B.V. Libyan Branch operating management committee chairman Mohamed Jamaleddin said, "To achieve first oil production by the end of 2016, Nafusah is looking forward to have this FEED project completed on schedule or even before in order to start the second phase of the project as early as possible in 2015."