12/10/2016 by Richard
Just over a week after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) came to an agreement in regards to reducing global oil supplies, Libya has reopened an important seaport terminal for oil exports and made an announcement that the country intends to expand oil production for the remainder of 2016.
The expansion, should it materialise, would cancel out many of the recent cuts agreed to by a number of OPEC, including oil giants Saudi Arabia.
An oil tanker loaded last Thursday, October 6, was the first to be exported from a Libyan oil terminal, located in Zueitina, this year. The tanker was loaded with a cargo of 800,000 barrels of oil, and will make its way to China. This shipment, for many energy experts, is a signal that Libya may at last be gearing up to return to the global energy market.
Despite the fact that Libya is home to the biggest oil reserves in Africa, the country has, until now, not been able to export more than a very insignificant amount of oil, for the majority of the past five years. This was due to a revolution that saw the overthrow of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, and a civil war that has been raging between militias ever since.
However, thanks to the Libyan National Army taking control of Zuetina in September, it is once again possible for the country to export. In future, we could see more products like Mobiltherm 605 being made with Libyan oil.
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