Oil revenue in Libya reaches $20.69 billion in 2023 |

TRIPOLI –

Libya’s oil revenue reached 99.1 billion Libyan dinars ($20.69 billion) in 2023, compared to 105.4 billion Libyan dinars in 2022, the country’s central bank said.

The oil and natural gas industry is a significant economic contributor in Libya.

In the late 1950s, the country developed a strong oil sector after major oil discoveries. And in recent years, despite the fluctuating oil production due to the wars and COVID-19, Libya’s economy has remained heavily reliant on the oil industry, which is the main source of income in the country.

In 2020, oil revenue accounted for over 50 percent of the Libyan GDP, the largest share in Africa. Although to a lesser extent, Libya’s economy also profits from the gas sector, as the country is the fourth largest natural gas producer on the African continent.

In addition, oil and gas resources largely contribute to Libya’s export trade. Mineral fuels, including oil and natural gas, were the leading products exported in 2021, representing over 95 percent of the exports.

In a separate development, production at Libya’s largest oil field was suspended on January 7, the country’s state-run oil company said, after protesters forced the facility to close over fuel shortages.

The National Oil Corp. declared force majeure at the Sharara oil field in the country’s south. Force majeure is a legal manoeuvre that releases a company from its contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances.

The company said in a statement that the closure of the field forced the suspension of crude oil supplies to the western Zawiya terminal on the Mediterranean coast.

Libya produces more than 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, and Sharara is the country’s largest field, with a capacity of up to 300,000 barrels per day.

Local media reported that residents of the desert town of Ubari, about 950 kilometres south of the capital Tripoli, shut down the field to protest fuel shortages.

The protesters also called for rehabilitating infrastructure and repairing roads in the southwestern region of Fezzan, one of the historic three provinces of Libya. They had closed the field for two days in July.

Libya’s light crude has long featured in the country’s years-long civil conflict, with rival militias and foreign powers jostling for control of Africa’s largest oil reserves.

Libya has been in turmoil since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed long-time ruler Muammar Gadhafi in 2011. The North African nation has for most of the past decade been split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by militias and foreign governments.