Libya’s national oil company and the country’s sovereign wealth fund have signed an agreement with Qatar’s UCC Holding for Area 47 in the Ghadames Basin, with a stated target of around 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day, The Libya Observer reported on Wednesday, July 8.

The project is to be financed by the investor, while associated gas will be recovered to generate electricity, according to NOC chairman Massoud Suleiman.

Associated gas is the gas that comes up with oil during extraction. When it is not captured, it can be burned on site. Using it to generate electricity can therefore reduce flaring and provide useful volumes in a country still affected by power cuts.

Production is not immediate, however. Development of the area still depends on the completion of technical studies and approval of the development plan, according to the NOC.

The announcement comes three months after the national oil company announced three oil and gas discoveries with Eni, Repsol and Sonatrach. One of them is located near Wafa, in the same Ghadames Basin.

It also comes as Libya says it wants to recover more gas from its oil fields instead of burning it on site. That gas can be used, among other things, to generate electricity in a country still facing power outages.