TRIPOLI, Libya, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Italian energy company Eni said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Libyan government to build a shipping port and desalination plant.
Eni Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni signed the MOU in the presence of Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi during a weekend ceremony in Tripoli, the energy company said in a statement.
The memorandum outlines the undisclosed terms for construction of a shipping port and related infrastructure, a water desalination plant and 1,000 houses in an area near the Gulf of Sidra.
The Italian company said it signed a memorandum in 2006 with the Gaddafi Development Foundation and Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp. to help build an "innovative program of social projects" in the country.
Eni is one of the most-active foreign companies operating in Libya. British energy company BP was to start drilling for oil in the Gulf of Sidra in November, but announced plans to delay the project because it decided not to use the previously scheduled drilling platform for unexplained "operational reasons."
