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Libya

Oil workers on a rig in Libya's Sirte basin. The country's energy infrastructure needs large-scale investment, say analysts

With or without foreign help, Libya’s 2m-barrel goal looks tough

Libya is hoping to double its crude oil production over the next three to five years, but analysts have warned that a lack of investment and the political crisis that has led to the country having two rival governments are jeopardising those plans. The country’s National Oil Corporation (LNOC) announced in June that it would […]

Gas flaring at a plant in Veracruz state, Mexico. The country is one of the biggest contributors to global flaring, along with Iran, Iraq and Libya

Iran, Iraq and Libya among worst offenders on gas flaring

Environmentally ruinous flaring of gas at upstream oil and gas facilities has risen to its highest level for five years, despite pledges to end the practice, the World Bank has said. Iran, Iraq and Libya were among the biggest contributors in 2023, according to a World Bank report published on June 20. Along with six […]

Migrants attempting to reach Italy from Tunisia. About 270,000 so-called irregular migrants arrived in the EU via sea crossings last year

EU reveals total aid to North Africa to combat migration 

The European Union provided €673 million ($718 million) in funding to four North African countries from 2021-23 to help the quartet reduce what it calls irregular migration to the 27-member bloc, official data shows. Last year about 270,000 “irregular migrants” arrived in the EU via sea crossings, 64 percent more than in 2022. Crossings from […]

Cars in the rubble of Derna. Jabal Al Akhdar, Marj and Derna account for 75% of the $1.65bn damage and losses

Oil output to shield Libya from $1.8bn flooding bill

Libya’s economy will be largely shielded from the multi-billion-dollar costs of catastrophic flooding by an increase in oil production, a report has predicted. The cost of reconstruction and recovery is estimated at nearly $1.8 billion, according to research from the World Bank, United Nations and European Union. Damage and economic losses are said to total […]

Farhat Bengdara, right, with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi after LNOC signed an $8 billion deal with the Italian energy company

Libyan Oil Company commits to cut gas flaring

The Libyan National Oil Company is joining the wider global oil and gas industry in committing to near-zero gas flaring by 2030, as part of wider efforts by the state-owned energy producer to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. LNOC chairman Farhat Bengdara said in an interview with AGBI at the UN Cop28 climate conference in Dubai […]

Oil production represents approximately 90% of Libya's economy

Libya’s state oil firm needs $17bn to increase output

Libya’s state oil firm, the National Oil Corporation (NOC), needs a budget of $17 billion to increase national oil output to 2 million barrels per day in three to five years, its chairman, Farhat Bengdara said in an interview. Bengdara told Alwasat TV on Sunday that there were no obstacles to increase the output but […]

People stuck on a road after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Shahhat city in Libya

Floods wipe out quarter of Libyan city as death toll passes 5,000

Thousands of people were killed and at least 10,000 were missing in Libya in floods caused by a huge Mediterranean storm that burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out as much as a quarter of the eastern coastal city of Derna. A senior medic in Derna told Reuters that more than 2,000 people were dead, while […]

Pipelines at Libya's Zueitina oil terminal, which was forced to close by Hurricane Daniel

Libya reopens oil ports after hurricane and flooding fears

Libya’s four main oil export terminals reopened on Tuesday after being forced to close last week as a result of a hurricane and floods in eastern parts of the country, according to news agencies. The ports of Brega, Es Sider, Ras Lamuf and Zueitina had been closed since September 9 as a precautionary measure.  Libya’s […]

This was the 15th edition of the Arab Youth Survey Video length: 03:19

60% of young Arabs want to emigrate, survey finds

High unemployment rates, conflict and lack of strong government policies in North Africa and the Levant are making young Arabs want to emigrate, the latest edition of the Arab Youth Survey has found. At 26 percent, the region has the highest unemployment rate in the world. As a result, 60 percent of young Arabs want […]

Russia’s Tatneft makes new oil discovery in Libya

Russia’s Tatneft has made a new oil discovery with a 1,870 barrel per day capacity in Libya’s Ghadames basin, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (Noc) said in a statement on Wednesday. Noc said the well was the third discovery for Tatneft in the area known as area 82 block 4. Tatneft has an interest of 10.5 […]

Europe looks to a divided Libya to ease energy crisis

Italian oil major Eni’s $8 billion deal to develop two new gas fields in Libya is the biggest since the overthrow of veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi. It also marks the latest attempt by European energy companies to secure new supplies for the continent in North Africa. Last year Eni struck an agreement to increase gas […]

A worker displays grains of wheat at a mill in Lebanon, where the cost of a loaf of bread rose 70 percent in March

Ukraine war drives Gulf to double down on food security

As the war in Ukraine has pushed up food prices and disrupted supply chains, hard-hit Mena countries explore ways to protect themselves In Abu Dhabi clusters of fresh tomatoes are growing inside rows of climate-controlled greenhouses in the middle of the desert – just one example of the lengths the arid region must go to […]

Oil will cushion Middle East from economic impact of Ukraine war

The war in Ukraine will sharply reduce economic growth in the Central Asian region in 2022, but higher oil prices will partly cushion the blow for the Middle East and North Africa, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. Both regions, however, will feel the impact of surging commodity prices, the IMF said, warning higher […]