Libya will extend oil and gas concessions with Italian oil and gas major Eni for 25 years from 2008, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, with cuts to the percentage of oil payments for costs.

Eni and NOC will each invest $14 billion in Libya over 10 years, and Eni chief executive officer Paolo Scaroni said $800 million of his company's slice would go into new exploration over a seven-year period.

Scaroni, who last week was in Kazakhstan to try to resolve a dispute with the government over its licence in the giant Kashagan field, said "until 2015, Libya will be more important to Eni than Kashagan" in terms of production.

"Here, we are extracting 250,000-290,000 barrels a day (b/d), which is 20 percent of our total production, while Kashagan will bring Eni 50,000 b/d until 2015," Scaroni said.

"NOC asked to renegotiate the terms. With the new contracts, we have reduced the percentage of 'cost-oil,' the quota that repays investments, because the new margin is being applied to a higher price," Scaroni added. - Reuters