São Paulo – Libya exported 485 million barrels of crude oil last year, according to information disclosed by the National Oil Corporation (NOC), the country’s state-owned energy company. Figures disclosed by African news agency Panapress show that NOC itself exported 379.5 million barrels and the rest were shipped abroad by its partners.
Italy was the main buyer of Libyan oil in 2012, with 139.8 million barrels, 37% of the total exported, followed by China, France, Spain, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal, the United States, India, Austria and Turkey. The statement also shows that the total consumption was 52.6 million barrels last year.
Libya is the second main oil exporter in Africa, second only to Nigeria. According to figures disclosed by Panapress, the economy of Libya is 95% dependant on oil exports and the country has the largest reserves on the continent, 48 billion barrels.
Efforts have already been announced to diversify the economy, but oil is still the country’s main source of revenues. Protests in Libya, which caused the ousting of former dictator Muamar Kadafi, in 2011, affected oil production. Little by little, however, the sector is recovering. Libya’s exports revenues totalled around US$ 52 billion last year, and came mostly from oil. In 2011, they were at US$ 15 billion.
*Translated by Mark Ament
