The Libyan oil sector continues its efforts to increase production in order to support the country’s financial resources, in a way that supports the recovery of the national economy, which faces many challenges.
Libya aims to increase oil production by about 8%, by next December, a level that would raise production to the highest level in more than a decade, according to data seen by the specialized energy platform.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation, Farhan bin Qadara, said that his country will be able to pump about 1.3 million barrels per day by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg Agency.
Oil production in Libya
Avoiding field closures and steps such as improving workers’ salaries have already helped increase Libyan oil production by about a quarter since January 2022, to 1.2 million barrels per day now, Farhat bin Gudara said.
The Libyan oil sector has suffered from the political turmoil in which the country has lived since the overthrow of President Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, in light of the political stalemate between rival governments and factions.
Oil production in Libya has often been hostage to internal strife, and despite the stability of production this year; There is hope that the country’s problems may recede.
Libya has the largest proven reserves of crude oil in Africa, and as of the end of 2020, it had 48.4 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, according to data from the British oil company BP.
Strategic plans
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation confirmed that investments worth $17 billion in 45 projects will allow the Corporation to raise production to two million barrels per day within 5 years.
He pointed out that if financial support is available, Libyan oil production will exceed the set target, as well as the record levels achieved by the sector during Gaddafi’s rule.
Libyan oil production reached a level of 1.557 million barrels per day in 2009, but it fell sharply to 462 thousand barrels per day in 2011, before recovering in subsequent years.
Since 2017, oil production in Libya has followed an upward trend; It increased from 811 thousand barrels per day to 951 thousand barrels in 2018, before it recorded 1.097 million barrels per day in 2019, to reach 1.2 million barrels currently.
new investments
Ben Gudara said the government will offer rights to develop additional fields next year, as part of its plan to attract new investment and increase the country’s oil and gas reserves.
The bidding round, if it happens, would be the first since 2007, and signals Libya’s return to business after more than a decade of political instability that has wiped out the lifeline outside the country’s exploration and production sector.
Bin Qadara added that the Italian company Eni and British BP are scheduled to start new drilling operations by the end of 2024, after the two parties reached a long-delayed agreement late last year.
The deal includes 3 large squares; Two onshore in the Ghadames basin and one offshore in the Sirte basin, operated by Eni.
The head of the NOC expected that the cooperation might yield a huge gas asset for export to Europe. Area C is likely to produce quantities that match the productivity of the Egyptian Zohr field, according to geological and seismic studies.
Re-injection of gas
Bin Qadara said that the National Oil Corporation is working to resume natural gas supplies from the Mellitah complex after maintenance, explaining that the flows will stabilize during the next five years after work.
On April 30 (2023), the National Oil Corporation announced that a comprehensive Umrah would be carried out in the Mellitah Industrial Complex and the Bahr al-Salam and Wafa fields, after postponing the decision several times. For different reasons and circumstances.
And Eni said, during the month of April 2023, that Libyan gas exports to Italy will witness a significant decrease, and it is likely that they will stop completely during the period from April 29 to May 25; due to planned maintenance.
The National Oil Corporation recently signed an agreement worth $1.05 billion with Eni aimed at investing in associated gas, a project that is supposed to start operating in 2025.
It is supposed to include the gas utilization project with a capacity of 85 million cubic feet per day, which aims to capture associated gas in the Buri oil field, which has a capacity of 25 thousand barrels per day.
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