Libya’s High Council for Energy Affairs has discussed the National Oil Corporation’s (NOC) plan to increase oil and gas production.
The Supreme Council of Energy is chaired by Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba. The Council includes the Minister of Oil and Gas, the Chairman of the NOC, the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), the Head of the Audit Bureau, the Ministers of Planning, Finance, Economy and Trade, the Chairman of the Renewable Energy Agency, and Chairman of the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL).
The meeting reviewed the ongoing projects in subsidiaries, and international partnerships with international houses of expertise in gas exploration, alternative energy, and the fight against carbon emissions.
Dbaiba praised the “efforts of workers in the oil sector to revive a number of stalled projects implemented through local competencies. Most important of these stalled projects is the maintenance of the Mellitah complex, and the operation of the Ras Lanuf complex, which has been suspended for years.”
The meeting affirmed the need to “unify the efforts of all state institutions in the oil and gas sector, in order to increase oil and gas production, and develop cooperation and partnership with international companies.” The council also confirmed the need to “increase disclosure and transparency of all operational and supply expenses.”
They also stressed the need to activate the International Audit Office, contracted by the Audit Bureau, to audit expenditures of the NOC for the past several years.
Last week, the NOC announced that crude oil revenues reached $1.57 billion dollars in May 2023, based on its accounts at the Libyan Foreign Bank.
In a statement, the NOC said the total revenue from crude oil amounted to $1.572 billion. Meanwhile, revenues from oil products reached $59.862 million, while revenues from gas and condensates recorded $29.862 million, and petrochemicals brought in $615,874.
The CBL announced that Libya’s total oil revenues rose to 19.1 billion Libyan dinars, from January to April 2023.
The CBL revealed that the country’s total revenues recorded 31.9 billion dinars, over the last four months. State expenditures amounted to 24.9 billion dinars in 2023. The bank noted that foreign currency exchange revenues over the last four months amounted to $15.05 billion dollars.