The company began operations in Libya in 1965 and operated there until economic sanctions were imposed in 1986 by the United States . The company was one of the first American companies to resume negotiations in Libya after the sanctions were lifted in 2004 . In 2008 , the company , along with 5 other oil companies , was criticized for hiring Hogan Lovells to lobby to exempt Libya from a law written by U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg ( D-NJ ) to assist American terror victims in seizing assets of countries found culpable in terror attacks , such as the Libyan bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 . and to remove a provision in the Dodd – Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that requires disclosure of payments to foreign governments . In early 2011 , the company ceased exploration activities and production operations in Libya due to the growing civil unrest in the country and U.S. sanctions . In June 2011 , the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and United Kingdom prosecutors requested information from the company , ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips related to the Libyan Investment Authority ( LIA ) , an investment firm controlled by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi , to determine if there were any violations of international bribery laws . The Libyan Investment Authority 's investments were frozen by the U.S. government in early 2011 following the Gaddafi regime 's attacks on Libyan civilians . In 2016 , the company ceased operations in Libya
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Occidental Petroleum