Libya has and is still going through a remarkable lucrative transformation. The country today is quite different from what it was thirty-five years ago. The standard of living has increased dramatically in a very short period of time due to the discovery of oil and gas and the willpower of the Libyan people. Petroleum exploration activities began on a large scale at the beginning of 1952. The first major discovery of oil in commercial quantities was in 1959, precisely 11th June 1959, by Esso Standard Libya Inc. (now Sirte Oil Company - SOC) and the port of Marsa El Brega where SOC's headquarters are based was officially opened in October, 1961 for the exportation of crude oil. The country became a member of OPEC in 1962, thus beginning an era of development characterized by a rapidly expanding economy. The following year the Ministry of Petroleum was established to take charge of the development of the oil industry at all levels. In April 1968, the Libyan General Petroleum Corporation was set up under the overall responsibility of the Ministry of Petroleum. It was empowered to engage in oil activities at every level, from exploration, drilling, and production to refining, exporting and marketing.
By 1969, the year of the Libyan Revolution, Libya had become the world's fourth largest oil exporter, but was receiving what were possibly the lowest per barrel revenues in the world. The new government embarked on a new strategy aimed at changing the whole basis of oil operations in Libya. This opened the way to the eventual nationalization of some foreign companies and the conclusion of participation agreements with many oil majors in the place of the old concession agreements. The first step was the abolition in 1970 of the Libyan General Petroleum Corporation and the creation of the National Oil Corporation (NOC - Libya). The new company, NOG was given wider powers than its predecessor, including overall control over the level of oil production in the country, since the rapid depletion of Libyan reserves during the 1960s was considered to be against the country's long-term national interest.
NOC also moved to raise the value of Libya's oil production with the signing in 1971 of the "Tripoli agreement", which increased posted prices and taxes on foreign companies. The new prices reflected the true value of Libyan oil in the light of its closeness to export markets.