Tripoli, (Business News Report) – Libyan oil revenues for 2021 recorded their highest levels since 2016 in light of high oil prices.
The National Oil Corporation of Libya said that revenues from oil and gas exports exceeded $21.5 billion in 2021, the highest level recorded in five years.
The corporation indicated that the net revenues of crude oil and gas exports last year amounted to $21.5 billion, in addition to non-dollar sales, which amounted to 30 million euros.
Libyan oil revenues
The foundation added, “We achieved record levels in last November and December, as net revenues during the last two months of last year amounted to $4.3 billion.”
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation, Eng. Mustafa Sanalla, said: “The end of the year 2021 recorded a recovery, and oil prices achieved their largest annual gains since 2016, driven by the recovery of the global economy from a state of recession due to the Coronavirus pandemic.”
Since the 1970s, Libya, which has the largest oil reserves in Africa, has relied to a large extent on its hydrocarbon export earnings.
But during the decade of military conflicts that followed the “2011 revolution,” armed groups often shut down or damaged oil facilities.
Frequent shutdowns
Repeated shutdowns have prompted the National Oil Corporation to announce force majeure conditions, a legal move that allows it to be freed from its contractual obligations, due to factors beyond its control.
Oil production returned to recovery, recording 1.2 million barrels per day, compared to between 1.5 and 1.6 million barrels before 2011.
But Sanalla warned that “the ability of the oil sector in Libya to invest and push the process of modernizing the infrastructure will remain weak in the foreseeable future, especially in light of the scarcity of budgets.”
He stressed that “what we need more than ever is to think outside the box and create initiatives to save infrastructure.”
In a related context, Libya’s revenues during 2021 amounted to 105.7 billion dinars, including all revenues, including oil and sovereign.
The Central Bank of Libya said that the total spending during 2021 amounted to 85.8 billion dinars, which is less than the allocated amount during that period, which is estimated at 86.1 billion dinars.
