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Energy industry in Libya
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General State of the Economy

After the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country lacks political and economic stability. In addition, the huge flows of refugees and civil war have caused great damage to the country's economy, including its foundation the oil industry. Accordingly, many statistics on Libya do not exist, or require additional testing (Fig.1). The same applies to the energy infrastructure. In this regard, some of the following figures show the pre-crisis data.
Libya is located in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast; it is the fourth largest country of the continent. Most of the country is occupied by the desert.

State of Libya  / دولة ليبيا
Capital: TripoliDensity: 3.74/km2Currency: Libyan dinar (LYD)
Official languages: ArabicLife expectancy at birth: 72.47 yearsGDP (PPP): $166.887 billion (2023 est.)
National Day: 17 FebruaryArea: 1,759,541 km2GDP - per capita (PPP): $24,381 (2023 est.)
Population: 7,252,573 (2023 est.)Coastline: 1,770 kmInternet country code: .ly
ليبيا.

Source: [1,2,3,4,5]

To the east and west Libya is bordered by two other major African countries – Egypt and Algeria.
In terms of the size Libya is 18th in the world, and according to the population density the country is 237th [1,2]. The total length of the country's coastline is 1 770 km [3]. According to 2022 data, the country is home to 7 137 931 people [3].

 

 Sources:
1. GDP (purchasing power parity), 2020 est. / The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *228
2. GDP - per capita (PPP), 2020 / The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *229
3. Inflation rate (consumer prices), 2019 est. / The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *228
4. Charges for the use of intellectual property, receipts (BoP, current US$), 2020 / International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook, and data files. / License: CC BY-4.0 *88
5. The Global Competitiveness Index 2019 / Rankings / Reports / World Economic Forum *141
6. High-technology exports (current US$) 2019-2020 / United Nations, Comtrade database through the WITS platform / License: CCBY-4.0 / Data *134
7. 2021 Index of Economic Freedom / International Economies / The Heritage Foundation *178
8. Reserves of foreign exchange and gold, 2017 est. / The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency *195
9. Annual average GDP growth in %, for the last 10 years (2011-2020) / World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files / License: CC BY-4.0  *206
10. Public debt (% of GDP), 2017 est. / The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency
(from smallest to largest) *210
  * Total number of countries participating in ranking


Figure 1. Economic Indices of Libya

According to [3] GDP purchasing power parity in Libya reached $70.65 billion in 2020 (101st in the world), with a steady GDP decline observed over the past couple of years [3,4]. GDP purchasing power parity per capita is lower (140th in 2020), and decreased from $15 000 in 2018 to $10 300 in 2020 [3,5]. The inflation level increased from 25.9% in 2016 to 28.5% in 2017, in terms of this indicator Libya is 222nd in the world. In terms of reserves of foreign exchange and gold the country is 31st in the world, behind Algeria, but ahead of Lebanon. According to the indicator for the average GDP growth in percentage over the last 10 years, in 2020 the country was 99th out of 206 countries. In terms of public debt, calculated as a percentage of the country's GDP, Libya was ranked 205th out of 210 countries considered in 2017.

Energy Resources

Libya has the largest oil reserves and third largest gas reserves among African countries (Table 1). In terms of tons of oil equivalent, in 2021 proved reserves of conventional hydrocarbons in Libya were: oil – 83%, gas – 17% (Fig.5). The unconventional natural resource matrix looks much different: shale oil (tight oil) – 52.6%, shale gas – 47.4% (Tabl.1).
According to the U.S. Central Intelligence agency and BP, the crude oil reserves in 2021 amounted to 48.36-48.4 billion bbl, and the gas reserves to 1.4-1.5 trillion m3 [3,6]. In the ranking of countries based on the technically recoverable reserves of shale oil, Libya occupies the fifth place with 26.1 billion barrels, shale gas reserves amount to 121.6 trillion cubic feet [7].

Table 1. Fossil energy resources of Libya

Resource/
Explanations
Crude oil*Natural gas*CoalShale Gas**Tight Oil**
Value48.36(2.84%)53.144(0.73%)no data121.626.1
Unitbillion barrelsTcfTcfbillion barrels
Year2021202020132013
Source[12][12][7][7]

*share of the country’s reserves in world total is provided in brackets
**unproved technically recoverable


Libya has a significant potential for the development of renewable energy (Table 2).
The level of solar radiation is very high (5.7-6.3 kWh/m²/ day) and scattered over most of the country. Along the country’s southeastern borderline with Chad, between Kurfa and Muruq district this figure reaches 7.4-7.9 kWh/m²/day [8].

Table 2. Renewable energy resources of Libya

Resource/
Explanations
Solar Potential
(DNI)*
Wind Potential
(50 м)*
Hydro energy
Potential
Bio Potential
(agricultural area)
Bio Potential
(forest area)
Municipal Solid
Waste
Value5.7-6.36.0-7.0no data8.70.1no data
UnitkWh/m2/daym/s% of land area% of land area
Year2018201820202020
Source[8][13][10][10]

* for the majority of the territory of the country

Wind speed in most parts of Libya is 6.0-7.0 m/sec, and in the southwestern part of the country it can reach over 8.0 m/sec [9]. 
About 8.7% of Libya is covered by agricultural land, and 0.1% is covered by forest [10].

Energy Balance

As previously mentioned Libya is the holder of the region‘s largest crude oil reserves [11]. Oil production has fallen significantly over the past 15 years (Figure 2) with a sudden drop in 2011, and in 2012 it reached the level of 1547 000 barrels day, however it has decreased in 2021 to the level of 1252 thousand barrels day [12].

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Sep 2023) / www.eia.gov

Figure 2. The production and consumption of fossil fuels in Libya (coal – left, gas – in the center, oil – right)

According to BP crude oil production in 2021 was 1269 thousand barrels per day [16]. Natural gas production in the country has declined in 2011, in 2013 it was 452 Bcf and in 2021 it was 517 Bcf [12]. In 2021, Libya consumed 243 Bcf of natural gas, while exporting 274 Bcf of natural gas [12].
Historically, Libya purely relies on fossil fuels for the electricity production (Figure 3).

                                        
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Sep 2023) / www.eia.gov
 
 Figure 3. Electricity production in Libya 

In 2020, Libya produced about 30.09 TWh of electricity, of which 99.9% by fossil fuels, and 0.1% by other renewable energy sources [14].
Libya’s position in the comparative diagram of energy index is shown in Fig. 4.

 Sources:
1. Crude oil proved reserves, 2021 / International Energy Statistic/Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021)*98
2. Natural gas proved reserves 2021 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *99
3. Total recoverable coal reserves 2019 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *81
4. Combination production-consumption for Crude oil 2018 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *219
5. Combination production-consumption for Natural gas 2019 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *123
6. Combination production-consumption for Coal 2019 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *128
7. Electricity – from other renewable sources (% of total installed capacity), 2017 est. / The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency *170
8. GDP per unit of energy use (PPP per unit of oil equivalent), 2020 *66
Primary energy consumption - BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021/BP;
GDP (purchasing power parity) - The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency
9. Energy use (primary energy use of oil equivalent per capita) 2020  *127
Primary energy consumption – BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021; Population - United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019, custom data acquired via website. Retrieved 15 November 2021
*66
10. The Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report (EAPI) 2017 / Rankings / Reports / World Economic Forum
11. Electric power consumption (kWh per capita), 2016 *217
Electricity Consumption - The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency; Population - United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019, custom data acquired via website. Retrieved 15 November 2021

12. Combination of electricity production-consumption (kWh)/The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *216

* Total number of countries participating in ranking

Figure 4. Energy indices of Libya

Libya’s indices based on reserves of oil and gas and their production-consumption ratio, are higher than the world‘s average. However, other indices look less convincing.
In the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index 2017, which is based first on the level economic growth, environmental safety, and energy independence of the country, including access to energy, Libya lost 38 ranking positions over the previous year, and is 105th in the world.
The country is in the lower half of the ranked list of countries for such indicators as GDP per unit of energy use in 2020
61st out of 66 countries considered, while energy consumption per capita is much higher — 38th out of 127 countries.
In terms of electricity consumption per capita, the country is 67th in the world, however, for the indicator of combination of electricity production-consumption, Libya is 43rd in the ranked list of 216 countries.

Energy Infrastructure

Map of territorial distribution of the largest infrastructure projects of the fossil fuel sector in Libya is shown in Figure 5. As previously mentioned, Libya has substantial conventional fossil fuel reserves. The largest oil extraction field is an offshore Buori, the production of which is 60 000 barrels per day [13]. Libyan energy infrastructure is mainly concentrated in the vicinity of the field, or on the coast.
Map of oil and gas infrastructure in Libya
Figure 5. Basic Infrastructure facilities of the fossil fuel sector in Libya (click on the map to view a PDF version)

Next to every major oil field there is oil storage. For example, Wafa oil Storage, located near the Wafa field, with a reservoir of 220 thousand barrels [14]. In the north, there are seven major oil terminals. The largest of them, Zawiya, 50 kilometers west of Tripoli, has the capacity of 480 vessels per year [15]. Oil and gas fields are connected to terminals via three oil pipelines and one gas pipeline. Export gas pipeline GreenStream, is 520 kilometers long, and supplies gas to Italy since 2003, it is the largest underwater gas pipeline of the Mediterranean Sea [16]. Refining needs are met at five refineries, the largest of which is Ras Lanuf Oil Refinery, with an installed capacity of 220 thousand barrels/day [17].
There are three large natural gas extraction field (Fig.5). The largest gas processing plant is Mellitah Complex with a capacity of 695MMSCFD of Gas sales, 31.000 bbls per day of liquids and 450 metric tons of solid sulfur [18]. Mellitah is also one of the largest gas compressor stations and is being operated by Green Stream and Sirte Oil Company [18]. There is one LNG export terminal  – Marsa El Brega with a capacity of 3.2 million tons/annum [19].
Libya also uses the technology of Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit (FPSO) – Farwah, Mabruk, with a storage capacity of more than 900,000 barrels and production capacity of 40,000 barrels per day [20].
The map of the territorial distribution of the largest infrastructural objects of electricity production and renewable energy of Libya is shown in Fig. 6.

Map of Electricity and Renewable energy infrastructure in Libya
Figure 6. Energy infrastructure of Libya: Electricity and Renewable Energy
(click on the map to view a PDF version)

There are ten fossil fuel power plants with a capacity of more than 100 MW each in the country. The largest power plants are – Derna oil power plant with an installed capacity of 120 MW West Mountain gas power plant with an installed capacity of 624 MW, Zawiya combined power plant with an installed capacity of 1440 MW[21,22,23].

Education and Innovation

The set of indices reflecting the position of Libya among other countries in the field of education and innovation can be seen in Figure 7. Here shows the indices that have an indirect effect on the energy sector, but in many respects predetermine its future.
According to the number of patents granted to the residents of Libya, both inside the country and abroad, the country ranks 175th in the world.

 Sources:
1. The Global Innovation Index 2021, Rankings / Knowledge / World Intellectual Property Organization / Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO (2021):
Energizing the World with Innovation. Ithaca, Fontainebleau, and Geneva *132
2. Patent Grants 2011-2020, resident & abroad / Statistical country profiles / World Intellectual Property Organization *185
3.Patents in Force 2020 / Statistical country profiles / World Intellectual Property Organization *109
4. QS World University Rankings 2022 *97
5. SCImago Country Rankings (1996-2020) / Country rankings / SCImago, (n.d.). SIR-SCImago Journal & Country Rank [Portal]. Retrieved 17 Nov 2021 *240
6. Internet users in 2018 / The World Factbook / Central Intelligence Agency *229
7. Internet users in 2018 (% Population) / The World Factbook / Central Intelligence Agency *229
8. Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP), 2019 / United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.
License: CCBY-4.0 / Data as of September 2021*177
9. Research and development expenditure (% of GDP), 2018 / UNESCO Institute for Statistics. License: CCBY-4.0 / Data *119
10. Scientific and technical journal articles, 2018 / National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators. License: CCBY-4.0 / Data *197
  * Total number of countries participating in ranking


Figure 7. The indices of education and innovation in Libya
 

According to Scimago Journal and Country Rank the country is 114th in the world out of 240 countries considered, and 118th according to the Scientific and Technical journal articles in 2016 out of 197 countries.
Fugro Rovtech Limited and Misurata University are actively involved in the research in the field of unconventional oil. JOWFE Oil Technology is among the leaders of scientific publications among Libyan companies in the field of synthetic fuels.
A large number of Libyan universities conduct research in the field of energy production from renewable sources. In the field of concentrated solar power — Zawia University, Sebha Univerisity and Sirte University. University of Benghazi, Al-Jabel Al-Garbi University and Center for Solar Energy research and Studies have the largest number of scientific publications in the field of wind energy.

Ecology and Environment Protection

A diagram of environmental indices is shown in Figure 8. To some extent the indices represented in the diagram reflect the ecological situation in Libya.
First of all, Libya demonstrates relatively high level of CO2 emissions in general, and per capita, and the highest methane emissions.
There are also no positive trends in forest conservation. According to The Environmental Vulnerability Index, which is based on years of observations and 50 indicators, which include for example, changing climatic characteristics or the quality of water resources, waste volumes, oil spills and other hazardous substances, etc. Libya is 48th, and is characterized as "at risk".

 

 Sources:
1. CO2 total emission by countries 2020 / European Commission / Joint Research Centre (JRC) / Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR)*208
2. CO2 per capita emission 2020/European Commission/Joint Research Centre (JRC) / Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) *208
3. Forest area 2020 (% of land area) / The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 / Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations *234
4. Forest area change 2010-2020 (1000 ha/year) / The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 / Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations *234
5. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2020 / Rankings / Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy / Yale University *180
6. Annual freshwater withdrawals (m3 per capita), 2017 *179
Annual freshwater withdrawals, total (billion m3), 2017 – Food and Agriculture Organization, AQUASTAT data. /License: CC BY-4.0; 
Population – United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019).
World Population Prospects 2019, custom data acquired via website. Retrieved 15 November 2021
7. The National Footprint Accounts 2017 (Biocapacity Credit / Deficit) / Global Footprint Network *188
8. Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent), 2018 / Data for up to 1990 are sourced from Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Environmental Sciences Division,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, United States. Data from 1990 are CAIT data: Climate Watch. 2020. GHG Emissions. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.
Available at: License : Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)  *191
9. The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2022 / Overall Results / Jan Burck, Thea Uhlich, Christoph Bals, Niklas Höhne, Leonardo Nascimento /
Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute & Climate Action Network *60

  * Total number of countries participating in ranking

Figure 8. Environmental Indices of Libya
 

There are also no positive trends in forest conservation. In this respect Libya has a low ranking place in the Environmental Performance Index in 2018, where the country is 123rd out of 180 countries is quite significant, because this index focuses primarily on the assessment of the environmental performance of national governments as well as The Ecological Footprint Atlas, where Libya is among the leading ecological debtors. Libya was excluded from the Environmental Performance Index 2020 along with Yemen, Syria as countries whose governments cannot effectively manage environmental problems.

References

[1] List of sovereign states and dependencies by area / Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_area
[2] List of countries and dependencies by population density / Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density
[3] Libya / The world factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency / https://www.cia.gov/
[4] GDP, PPP (constant 2011 international $) / World Bank, International Comparison Program database. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org/
[5] GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)/ World Bank, International Comparison Program database. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org/
[6] BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 - 2022 (PDF) / BP / https://www.bp.com/
[7] World Shale Resource Assessments / U.S. Energy Information Administration (September 24, 2015) / https://www.eia.gov/
[8] Solar resource data obtained from the Global Solar Atlas, owned by the World Bank Group and provided by Solargis / Global Solar Athlas / http://globalsolaratlas.info/
[9] Wind Map / Global Wind Atlas 2.0, a free, web-based application developed, owned and operated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in partnership with the World Bank Group, utilizing data provided by Vortex, with funding provided by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). For additional information: https://globalwindatlas.info
[10] Agricultural land (% of land area) / Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org
[11] Libya / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (November 19, 2015) /http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/
[12] International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration  /http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/
[13] Wikipedia Bouri Offshore Field / Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouri_Field
[14] Wafa Field / Mellitah Oil and Gas B.V / https://mellitahog.ly
[15] Libyan ports / Tehemu / https://www.temehu.com/
[16] GreenStream BV / Eni GreenStream BV / http://www.greenstreambv.com/
[17] NOC Ras Lanuf Oil Refinery / Industry About / http://industryabout.com/
[18] Mellitah Complex / Mellitah Oil and Gas B.V / https://mellitahog.ly
[19] Marsa El Brega LNG Terminal / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[20] Farwah FPSO / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[21] Derna Oil Power Plant / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[22] Western Mountain Gas Power Plant / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[23] Zwaia (Zwaiyah) CCGT Power Plant Libya / Global Energy Observatory (GEO) / http://globalenergyobservatory.org/

The sources of charts and curves are specified under the images.

For more information about the energy industry in Libya see here