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Libya can provide Europe with oil, gas

May 16, 2022 at 12:35 pm

Workers at an oil port in Libya on 24 September 2020 [AFP/Getty Images]

The head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said yesterday that it could provide Europe with oil and gas to compensate for Russian energy sources.

“Libya has the ability to securely supply Europe with oil and natural gas by sea, through pipelines using existing infrastructure,” the Libyan official agency quoted Mustafa Sanalla as saying.

He explained that “a number of international oil companies, such as Italy’s Eni, France’s Total Energy, Repsol, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, OMV, and others, have invested and contributed more than $1 billion annually to exploit resources in Libya.”

Sanalla’s statements contradict the country’s Ministry of Ool’s announcement about Libya’s inability to “increase production of oil and gas for the next five years,” explaining that “the existing capabilities do not allow for an increase in production”.

On 16 March, the Prime Minister of the National Unity government, Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh, urged OPEC countries to increase oil production to cover the international deficit and control the current global energy crisis.

Libya can produce 1.44 million barrels per day. However, the closure of major oil fields and ports in mid-April by tribal leaders has interrupted production.

READ: Libya: Dbeibeh’s gov’t welcomes lifting of the blockade on oil installations