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5 October 2026, London (The Energy Circle by IN-VR) - KBR has opened a new local branch office in Libya, formalising its return to Africa's largest holder of proven oil reserves. The Houston-headquartered engineering and technology group completed its registration procedures in February 2026 and has since secured the permits required to operate in the country. The move gives KBR a direct, in-country base at a time when it holds active roles at both ends of Libya's hydrocarbon value chain: a project management mandate on a new refinery in the south, and a design review on one of Waha Oil Company's priority upstream developments.
The timing is notable. Libya's crude output reached 1.26 million barrels per day in September 2025, its highest level since mid-2013, and the National Oil Corporation (NOC) has set a target of 2 million b/d by 2028. Delivering that growth depends not only on fresh investment from operators, but on the engineering, project management and services capacity needed to move projects from concept to construction. KBR's decision to re-establish a local office suggests that the international service companies Libya will rely on are prepared to commit people and resources on the ground.
The South Refinery Project.
On 18 March 2026, KBR was awarded a project management and technical services contract by Zallaf Exploration, Production & Refining of Oil & Gas Company for the South Refinery Project in Ubari, in south-west Libya. Under the contract, KBR will provide contract management, project management and technical support through the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) phases, over a 50-month execution period. The role places KBR on the owner's side of the project, overseeing delivery rather than building the plant itself, a model often favoured by national companies for large and technically complex downstream schemes.
Jay Ibrahim, President of KBR Sustainable Technology Solutions, said at the time of the award: "As an American company with a long and proud history in Libya, we are pleased to support this strategically important project." KBR points to more than 160 refining and downstream projects worldwide as the experience it brings to the assignment. For Libya, the project forms part of a broader effort to expand domestic refining capacity, with the plant located in a southern region that is also home to some of the country's major producing fields.
The J6 North Gialo design review.
Upstream, KBR is re-evaluating the front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the J6 North Gialo field, operated by Waha Oil Company. The work forms part of a comprehensive review of the project's tender process launched by Waha, following a period of disruption among contractors linked to the development, with Daewoo withdrawing in March 2026 and Petrofac entering administration in October 2025. According to MEED, the design review is now nearing completion, and the main contract tender is planned before the end of 2026 or in the first quarter of 2027.
J6 North Gialo is expected to add around 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It is one of three developments Waha has prioritised, alongside NC98 and Gialo 3, which together aim to roughly double the company's output from about 300,000 b/d to 600,000 b/d. The Waha concession, covering some 13 million acres, is held by the NOC (59.16%), TotalEnergies (20.42%) and ConocoPhillips (20.42%). TotalEnergies' extension of its concession agreement through 31 December 2050, signed in January 2026, provides the long-term framework that supports investment decisions on projects of this scale.
A FEED re-evaluation is the stage at which scope, cost estimates and execution strategy are tested before contractors are invited to bid. A robust design basis will be central to attracting competitive EPC offers, and to avoiding the delays that have affected the project's earlier contracting path.
A long history, and a return.
KBR's relationship with Libya goes back decades. Operating as Brown & Root, the company worked on the Great Man-Made River Project, recognised as the world's largest irrigation project. Its Libyan office has nevertheless been closed on several occasions over the years, as political instability and security concerns made sustained operations difficult.
That history makes the reopening more than an administrative step. A local branch office brings the company closer to its clients at the NOC and its subsidiaries, supports local hiring and partnerships, and signals a longer planning horizon. It also adds a US engineering name to a widening group of international companies re-engaging with the country. BP and Shell signed agreements in July 2025 to assess exploration opportunities, ExxonMobil signed a technical studies agreement covering offshore blocks in August 2025, and Libya's first licensing round since 2011 drew interest from around 40 companies, according to NOC Chairman Masoud Suleman.
What comes next.
The coming quarters will show how quickly this renewed engagement turns into contracts and construction. The J6 North Gialo tender is the near-term milestone to watch, alongside progress on NC98 and Gialo 3 and the South Refinery Project's advance through its EPC phases under KBR's oversight. Execution risk has not disappeared: Libya's production has been disrupted repeatedly, falling to 580,000 b/d during the shutdown of September 2024. However, the combination of operators extending their commitments, majors returning to assess acreage and service companies re-establishing a local presence points to a sector that is steadily rebuilding its project pipeline.
For KBR, the new office is a commitment to that pipeline. For Libya, it is a further sign that the international expertise needed to reach its production targets is prepared to return.
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