Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday it will deliver the first shipment of oil to the U.S. from Libyan fields since international sanctions were levied against the North African country nearly 20 years ago.

Los Angeles-based Occidental resumed operating oil fields in Libya after winning nine of 15 bids for exploration in January. The first shipment by Occidental, the country’s fourth largest oil company, will bring 900,000 barrels of low-sulfur crude to the U.S.

Libya was accused of involvement in the deadly bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland in 1988. The U.S. lifted a travel ban to Libya in early 2004 after the government accepted responsibility for the bombing. The United Nations lifted its sanctions in 2003 after the Libyan government agreed to dismantle any weapons of mass destructions programs and agreed to international inspections. However, the State Department still lists Libya as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Occidental has three oil-producing properties and interests in 13 exploration blocks in Libya, making tit he largest oil operator in the country, and its Libya-based production will add about 22,000 barrels a day to Occidental’s 2005 production rate.