Entity

It is one of national oil companies which is wholly owned by the National Oil Corporation (N.O.C.), headquartered in Marsa Al Brega, a distance of about 240 km west of Benghazi. The company activities are related to the exploration and production of oil and gas, manufacturing and supply of industrial installations and facilities along the Libyan coast.The company was initially known as Esso Standard Libya Inc., the first company to discover commercial quantities of crude oil in the Zelten oil field. In 1981, Exxon (parent company of Esso Standard) withdrew their Libyan operations, after which Sirte Oil Company was formed as a NOC subsidiary. In 1986, SOC took over the assets of Grace Petroleum, one of the five US companies forced by the U.S. government to leave Libya. In 1991, SOC merged with the National Petrochemical Company, creating the Sirte Oil Company . Activities included oil refining, liquefaction of natural gas and petrochemicals (methanol, ammonia and urea).