Libya is seeking to foster regional energy cooperation and investment in its oil and gas sector, with Abu Dhabi serving as the first stop on a four-day investment promotion tour of the Arab states by Libya’s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas for Production Affairs, H.E. Refaat Al-Abbar.
Home to the largest recoverable oil reserves in Africa, Libya features sizable investment opportunities across oil and gas, renewables, power generation, transmission and distribution, infrastructure and manufacturing industries.
The country is also seeking to rebuild all port infrastructure and storage facilities via injections of capital, technology and know-how from foreign partners with more advanced technical capabilities. In addition to advancing discussions with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and National Petroleum Construction Company in the Emirates, Libya held talks with Egypt in June regarding the formation of a joint natural gas company and with Turkey in April to drive bilateral oil and gas cooperation.
Enhanced cooperation with various regional partners will be critical for the Libyan administration to achieve long-term oil output targets. In the past six months alone, the country has implemented a complete overhaul of its oil and gas sector, re-establishing its Ministry of Oil and Gas in March with the appointment of H.E. Mohamed Aoun as Minister, as well as re-building regional and global diplomatic ties.
This effort is supported by the re-opening of international embassies in Tripoli, including those of France, Spain, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Egypt and Tunisia. Libya maintains strong existing ties with both China and Europe, and Italy and Spain serve as major importers of Libyan oil and gas.