Pristine Investment in Libya
Libya has succeeded in increasing oil production by almost 50% in the past five years, from 1.3 million barrels per day in 2003 to the present 1.8 million bpd. Because Libya was on the US state sponsor of terror list, sanctions prevented foreign investment, particularly oil companies from drilling in the country. There are vast stretches of land in Libya that have remained untouched by drilling and may contain many more reserves than the officially listed figure. Since sanctions were lifted against Libya in 2003, foreign investment from Italian sources has produced valuable returns. As relations with the West continue to improve, many more foreign firms will want to invest in Libya’s pristine petroleum reserves, which could lead to a merger between the state-owned National Oil Company and an international oil company in the coming decade according to Shokri Ghanem, the NOC chairman.
David Crowley
