Oil
Oil Exports in Libya : The Future Ahead
Libya is an OPEC member and holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa (followed by Nigeria and Algeria), 41.5 Gbbl (6.60×109 m3) as of January 2007, up from 39.1 Gbbl (6.22×109 m3) in 2006. About 80% of Libya’s proven oil reserves are located in the Sirte Basin, which is responsible for 90% of the country’s oil output. The state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) dominates Libya’s oil industry, along with smaller subsidiaries, which combined account for around 50% of the country’s oil output. Among NOC’s subsidiaries, the largest oil producer is the Waha Oil Company (WOC), followed by the Agoco, Zueitina Oil Company (ZOC), and Sirte Oil Company (SOC)
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These oil revenues and a small population have given Libya the highest nominal per capita GDP in Africa.Since 2000, Libya has recorded favourable growth rates with an estimated 10.6% growth of GDP in 2010.
Enormous oil wealth lies thousands of feet below Libya, but whether it will be claimed, and by whom, now that Moammar Gadhafi is gone is very much an open question.
Drilling and shipping equipment has been damaged in the Libyan civil war, land mines must be cleared around oil fields, and a legal framework for how oil money is collected and distributed must still be worked out.
Whatever government is formed could open vast regions of Libya for drilling at reasonable terms — or it could demand that foreign oil companies pay exorbitant royalties or require them to build infrastructure in exchange for access to oil.
Libya sits on the biggest reserves of oil in Africa. Those resources could help Libya recover from Gadhafi’s decades-long corruption and the civil war. Or the oil could be kept out of reach by political chaos, crumbling infrastructure or violence.
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