The Libyan Ministry of Oil and Gas said it was seeking to become the main source of crude oil for Italy and Europe within five years.
Speaking to Libya Herald news site, the Ministry said Libya needs to “double its gas production, to meet the growing demand for natural gas locally.”
It expects Libya’s oil production to “increase within five years at a sufficient level, so that the country would become the main source of crude for Italy and Europe.”
It pointed out that the National Oil Corporation (NOC) is holding talks with Italy’s, Eni, to develop the Hamada gas fields in order to achieve this goal.
These comments came on the back of the NOC announcing Monday that the total domestic consumption of natural gas amounted to 1.130 billion cubic feet during the past 24 hours.
However, Oil Minister, Mohamed Aoun has ruled out increasing gas exports to Europe at the present time, stating that this could be considered after five years.
He confirmed that the export of gas to Europe, via Italy through the Green Stream line has not stopped. This came during his participation in the eighth international OPEC conference in Vienna.
Aoun said that Libya has drawn up a short-term strategic plan for the oil and gas sector, aiming to raise its oil production to two million barrels per day. He explained that the plan includes developing newly discovered fields and raising the production capacity of the current fields. In addition to developing the infrastructure that was damaged.
He pointed out that the NOC’s plan works to “overcome the obstacles and challenges facing the sector in Libya and focuses on many axes. It includes structuring the oil and gas sector for the Corporation and its subsidiaries.”
Aoun stated that the plan “also aims to address environmental problems, climate change, and reduce carbon emissions. This will be done by stopping burning gas from oil fields and in oil operations, and focusing on producing electricity from renewable energy sources.
He expected that the increase in demand in the global market would lead to “achieving balance in the market and push oil prices to rise during the period between the third quarter of 2023, and the first quarter of 2024.”