PARIS, Oct 3: French oil group Total and Japanese company Inpex have been chosen by the Libyan government to exploit a 3,400-square-km oil field in the east of the country, Total said in a statement on Monday.

Total will be the operator of the block with a 60 per cent interest in the partnership with Inpex. The partners were awarded the rights to explore and extract the block located in the Cyrenaique basin in an international tender process launched by the Libyan government.

Libya’s proven oil reserves are estimated at 36 billion barrels according to figures from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), but rights for prospection have been granted for only a quarter of the country.

Earlier on Monday, Total had announced the fifth discovery of oil in the Murzuq basin oil field in Libya where it holds a 24 percent interest in a partnership with Spanish company Repsol YPF.—AFP