Libya’s National Oil Corporation announced Saturday, that its oil and gas exports raised revenues of more than $21.5 billion in 2021, the highest level in five years.
The state-run NOC said in a statement, that the total net revenues for oil & gas exports last year amounted to $21.5 billion as well as 30 million euros in non-dollar sales.
It added that record levels were achieved in November and December, raising a combined $4.3 billion in the two last months of 2021.
“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 the state of stagnation” due to the coronavirus epidemic, NOC boss Mustafa Sanalla said.
Libya which sits on the largest known oil reserves in Africa has been heavily reliant on revenues from its hydrocarbon exports since the mid-70s.
But in a decade of violence since the 2011 revolt that overthrew and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi, armed groups have frequently blockaded or damaged oil installations.
The shutdowns have forced the NOC to declare force majeure, a legal move allowing it to free itself from contractual obligations in light of factors beyond its control.
Oil production has recovered to 1.2 million barrels per day, as opposed to between 1.5 million and 1.6 million bpd before the NATO-backed uprising of 2011.
Sanalla however warned that “the ability of the oil sector in Libya to invest and advance the process of infrastructure modernization will remain weak in the foreseeable future, especially in light of the scarcity of budgets”.