Libya will not allow the presence of foreign security at its oil facilities, the chairman of the state-run National Oil Corp., or NOC, said after talks with BP PLC.(BP.LN) about protecting the company if it resumes operations in the North African country.

BP said in January that it was reviewing plans to start exploratory drilling for oil and gas in Libya after the attack that month by Islamist militants on a gas plant in neighboring Algeria .

"I will not allow any form whatsoever of foreign security presence in the oil zones," Nuri Berruien said late Wednesday in a statement posted on NOC's website. It said Mr. Berruien made the comments after speaking with BP security official Derek Porter.

BP signed a $900 million deal with NOC in 2007 but was forced to suspend activity during the country's civil war.

With Africa 's largest crude reserves, OPEC member Libya is struggling to increase output and attract investors in the aftermath of the uprising that topped longtime leader Muammar Gadhafi in 2011. Since then, oil and gas facilities have frequently been the target of protests and attacks by militias.

Last month protesters blocked the entrance to northern Libya 's Gialo field, which is controlled by Waha Oil Co. and feeds crude into a pipeline to the Es Sider export terminal. They were demanding that the company use locally hired drivers and vehicles.

Oil minister Abdelbari al-Arusi said on Wednesday that the security situation in the country, which produced around 1.3 million barrels daily last month, continues to improve "despite being amplified by the media."
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