The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Thursday that Algerian company Sonatrach has resumed its oil exploration activities in Libya after more than 10 years of hiatus.

According to the NOC statement, Sonatrach’s Libya branch restarted operations in Block 96/2 of the Ghadames Basin (northwest Libya) in mid-October.

The company had originally begun drilling the exploratory well (1–96/2) in April 2014, reaching a depth of 8,090 feet, but halted operations and withdrew in May 2014 due to unstable security conditions in the country at the time.