Libya Ready to Bridge Europe’s Oil & Gas Needs

In the presence of the President of the Italian House of Representatives, the Prime Minister of Italy and many European international institutions personalities, the President of the Italian Republic opened the forum “towards the South”: The European Strategy, which continued throughout 2 days, May 12-13, 2022.

On Friday, May 13, 2022, Libya’s National Oil Corporation Chairman Mustafa Sanalla gave a speech at the forum in the Italian city of Sorrento.

In his speech, Mr. Sanalla said: ‘There are exciting capabilities in my country to develop hydrocarbons to provide Europe with oil and natural gas through the sea by the pipelines using the existing infrastructure, adding that Libya can provide safe supplies of oil and natural gas to Europe, and we can complement or replace some current supplies.

As I say this, I am aware that many observers believe that Libya remains a high-risk territory that created exacerbated tensions for oil investor.  This is not so.  Indeed, over the past two years International Oil Companies (IOCs) such as Eni, TotalEnergies, Repsol, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, OMV and others, have been investing and contributing over $1 bn per year towards exploiting Libya’s resources. Other companies, such, BP, Sonatrach , others and the Polish Oil and Gas Company, are resuming their exploration and appraisal activities in Libya.  I am pleased to say that other companies are showing interest too.

In a related context, Sanalla’s making stated by saying: “We are currently reviewing plans for the development of North Gialo 6J Area and NC-98, a joint onshore oil development with TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips and Hess, with an estimated budget of $3.5bn. We have other gas development ready projects such as NC-7 and NC-210/Atshan, in Ghadames basin, with an estimated capital of over $4bn to supply gas to the local and international market over the next 3 to 5 years.

Mr. Sanalla added: “ I recognize that many companies think that our current concession terms are unfavorable.  Today, to assist in accelerating the pace of activities in our country, our government, and National Oil Corporation has taken the first step to set in motion and are working collectively to determine the best contractual terms that are fair to our future partners companies, and which will recognize and appreciate the value of the resources that positioned under our soil and the value that the concession holders will bring to develop,  produce and steady progress in boosting those resources.  We expect to share our thoughts and ambitions around the end of this year.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors confirmed in his speech by saying: “Libya of course is the right place to invest in Natural Gas due to current crisis in Europe. its vast fortunes, the country is a prominent global player. It is a major oil producer in Africa.

In addition, this is an opportune time to invest in Natural Gas. As the turmoil continues in Europe, the impact of the current crisis on energy markets needs serious discussion. There are broad global challenges to Natural Gas. I have talked about the challenges facing the global oil markets in other forums. But what I described today in Sorrento reflects the situation that the world’s Natural Gas markets are now facing.

Like oil, Natural Gas is witnessing an increase in demand in the main consumption regions of Italy and Europe as a result of the tensions in Eastern Europe.

The Chairman has given a brief of Libya’s oil and gas resources and reserves, current and expected production rates, as well as Libya’s strategic position in the European market.

In conclusion, Mr. Mustafa Sanalla said: ‘I thank the Italian government for hosting me and giving me the opportunity to participate in this forum, which came at an important time in the hope that you will seriously consider what I have provided, and I look forward to welcoming you to my country Libya.’

The speech was delivered in the presence of the Italian foreign Minister,Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines, the Chief Executive of the European House and the Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, the ministers of economy, finance, tourism, infrastructure and mobility from Italy, the president of the Algerian company Sonatrach, the Minister of Digital Governance of Greece, the Minister of Economy of Portugal, and more than forty academic figures, international expertise and international institutes.