OilPrice reported on Thursday that on May 7, a massive industrial offshore structure departed from the Italian port of Ravenna toward the Bouri oil field, located around 170 kilometers off the Libyan coast. The offshore unit, which weighs more than 5,200 tons and stands 45 meters high, was designed to utilize gas for enhanced oil extraction.
According to the outlet, the project was developed by Mellitah Oil & Gas—a joint venture between Eni and the National Oil Corporation. Construction work was carried out at the Rosetti Marino shipyard, while offshore installation operations will be handled by Saipem using the Saipem 7000 crane vessel. The operation highlights the central role of Italian industry in the offshore oil and gas sector and its capability to manage all project stages from design to installation.
The report added that building the unit required hundreds of highly specialized workers, including engineers, technicians, and shipyard laborers in Ravenna, generating significant positive effects on local and national supply chains. Projects of this scale, valued at hundreds of millions of euros, support a strategic industrial network in Italy while preserving advanced expertise and jobs in a highly specialized sector.
The outlet noted that in a transforming energy sector, initiatives of this kind strengthen Italy’s competitive position internationally.
According to the report, the project focuses on reducing excess gas flaring during oil extraction, which is considered one of the major avoidable sources of emissions in the global energy sector, as enormous quantities of gas are released into the atmosphere every year.
The new platform will allow this gas to be recovered, processed, and reintegrated into the production cycle, turning waste into an energy resource. For Libya, this represents progress toward the goal of eliminating gas flaring entirely by 2030 while reducing environmental impact.
The report also stated that the Bouri field is one of Libya’s most important oil fields, and that the installation of the new unit will improve both its efficiency and production capacity.
