Libya needs up to $40 billion to boost oil and gas production

Libya needs between $30 billion and $40 billion in investment to develop its oil and gas resources and raise crude production to 2 million barrels per day by 2030, according to Masoud Suleman, chairman of the country’s National Oil Corporation (NOC).

Libya, which has Africa’s largest proven oil reserves, currently produces about 1.4 million barrels per day. Suleman said the country has more than 60 discovered oil and gas fields that have yet to be developed, Financial Times reports. 

“We have a lot of untapped resources,” he told the Financial Times. “We need significant funds, between $30bn and $40bn.”

Suleman described the target of reaching 2 million barrels per day by 2030 as “ambitious but realistic,” but said a shortage of capital was slowing development.

International companies including Eni, TotalEnergies, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are active in Libya, but investment has been constrained by political instability, governance and corruption concerns, as well as funding shortages at the NOC.

Libya remains divided between rival administrations in the east and west, while armed groups and militias continue to wield significant influence, particularly in the western part of the country.

A series of drone strikes this month targeted the Zawiya oil refinery in western Libya, setting fire to a gasoline storage tank and damaging other parts of the facility. A nearby power station was also attacked. Authorities in Tripoli have not identified those responsible.

Suleman said the attacks were limited to a specific area and posed no immediate threat to major oil and gas investment projects.

He said the attacks were “caused by a small number of outlaws” that the state was working to “neutralise”, adding that all oil and gas investment sites were “located well beyond areas of tension and under robust security”.

The NOC is also considering changes to its agreements with international investors to address financing constraints. Under existing production-sharing agreements, the state company must finance its share of development costs, leaving projects vulnerable when government funding is delayed.

“We are thinking [of changing] the business model between NOC and our international partners. We are suffering from [a] lack of funds, and this is delaying our development projects dramatically,” Suleman said.

The NOC is considering a return to concession-style agreements, under which international investors would assume a greater share of upfront development costs.

By Sabina Mammadli