With the current surge in black gold prices, crude-producing countries, including Libya, are counting on an increase in their production plateau in order to have more budgetary room for manoeuvre.
In Libya, the government of national unity announced on Wednesday, April 13 that it intends to put in place measures aimed at increasing the country’s black gold production to 1.4 million barrels per year. day. Libya currently produces 1.2 million BPD. A capacity was reached on January 17th.
“We are working to increase oil production to 1.4 million barrels per day this year. The oil sector has faced many challenges over the past decade,” said Abdel Hamid Dbeibah (pictured), head of the Tripoli-based national unity government.
To achieve this goal, Dbeibah stressed that a special commission will be set up. The mission of the institution will be to find solutions to the operational difficulties which have affected the efficiency of the Libyan oil sector for several years.
With proven oil reserves of around 48.4 billion barrels, Libya holds Africa’s largest black gold reserves, according to data from the BP Statistical Review 2021 report. Yet the country is struggling to reach optimal production capacity. A consequence of the political crisis that the country has been experiencing since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Added to this are operational and investment problems that are impacting the Libyan oil industry.
According to Giuseppe Buccino, Italian ambassador to Libya, who spoke this week on the situation of the Libyan oil sector, the North African country can reach a production capacity of 2 million b/d in a year and a half or two years.
This will require the country’s political context to stabilize and investment in the oil sector to increase.
