The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit claimed that Libya’s oil resources have been wasted for 50 years.
In his speech during the World Summit of Governments held in Dubai, Aboul-Gheit talked about the importance of leadership, and compared the course of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to that of Libya.
“We see leadership in the Gulf countries that prioritize making a person who can contribute meaningfully to their country, with the presence of natural resources to help them,” Aboul-Ghiet said.
“The most important is a leadership that has set a vision for its people looking forward to the long-term development of their country,” he added.
Aboul-Gheit noted that Libya had massive natural resources with a small population, but that was wasted over 50 years.
He noted that Libya relied on oil for about 80% of its GDP, and was exporting about 1.7 million barrels of oil per day before 2011. He also pointed to the violence in the north-African country, as well as the presence of two competing governments that control the east and west.
“In Libya, there was not only a civil war, but before that, there was a waste of the country’s resources, which contributed to the situation we see now,” he concluded.
On 10 February 2022, the Libyan Parliament announced the unanimous appointment of Fathi Bashagha as the new Prime Minister. But incumbent PM, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government.
Libyan Oil Minister Mohamed Aoun has said that oil and gas production will increase by the end of 2023.
During a meeting with the Dutch Ambassador in Tripoli, Dolf Hogewoning, Aoun added that oil production could reach 2 million barrels per day, “if efforts are combined, and work is done with high efficiency, and international companies cooperate with Libya.”
