Libya Finally Kicks Off Construction of Oil Refinery Project

By Sodeinde Temidayo David

Libya, one of Africa top crude oil exporters, has announced the commencement of the construction of a refinery in the south zone of the country.

This was revealed after a cabinet meeting in the country where it was revealed that the refinery project was originally planned in 1980.

The refinery is aimed to produce cooking gas and also produce 8,000 cylinders per day, jet fuel and other products, including 1.4 million litres of petrol per day and 1.1 million litres of diesel in a day.

Libyan Prime Minister, Mr Abdelhamid Dbeibah, announcing in the ceremony at the country’s capital, Tripoli, noted that the project is in association with the country’s oil company, National Oil Corp (NOC).

He further disclosed the importance of the project to the country’s growth, adding that the financial coverage was ready, with specifications and technical designs also ready with Libya’s state oil company.

According to the Chairman of NOC, Mr Mustafa Sanalla, the project will cost between $500 million and $600 million and become operational within three years, with an expected annual income of $75 million.

The refinery will be built near Al-Charara, a major oil field in the Oubari region of Libya, which produces an average of 300,000 barrels of oil a day.

First announced in the early 1980s, the project for a refinery in southern Libya had been put on hold for years before being revived in 2017.

Libya, which has the most abundant oil reserves in Africa, has been trying to emerge from a decade of chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s government in 2011.

Libya was gripped by violence and political turmoil in the aftermath of the NATO-backed uprising against Kadhafi.

In recent years, the country has been split between two rival administrations backed by foreign powers and myriad militias but the recent ceasefire has helped return some level of peace to the country which has allowed its export crude.