Africa

Libya becomes Africa's largest oil producer

The North African country Libya has quietly surpassed Nigeria and become Africa's largest oil producer. This is one of the latest topics of RFI's French "Raw Materials" column (Chronique des Matières Premières) online this week. The largest oil reserves on the African continent are currently located in Libya, which is estimated to contain nearly 50 billion barrels of crude oil. It is one of the top ten countries with the largest oil reserves in the world. The latest report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEP - Organization des Pays Exportateurs de Pétrole) believes that Libya's daily oil production in March 2024 is close to that before the start of the civil war in 2011.

存档地图 / 欧佩克组织：利比亚凌驾尼日利亚，成为非洲石油第一大生产国。（2024年03月） Carte Archive / OPEP: La Libye détrône le Nigeria et devient le premier producteur de pétrole africain. © Carte : RFI

Author: Nicola

- Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa -

The French website of RFI published a latest report by economic reporter Arthur Ponchelet in the "Chronique des Matières Premières" column today, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The continent's largest oil reserves are in Libya. After years of crisis, the hydrocarbon energy industry has regained momentum and has surpassed Nigeria to become Africa's largest oil producer. Libya is estimated to contain nearly 50 billion barrels of crude oil underground, making it the tenth largest country in terms of oil reserves in the world.

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RFI Image Archive / Chronique des matières premières. 存档图片：[原材料]专栏。 © RFI Image Archive

The original title of this report in the French column of RFI is: [La Libye détrône le Nigeria et devient le premier producteur de pétrole africain]. In Chinese, it can be translated as [Libya surpasses Nigeria and becomes Africa's largest oil producer]. Here’s the synopsis to share.

- Libya has historically been a major crude oil producer -

This report in the "Chronique des Matières Premières" column (Chronique des Matières Premières) of RFI's French website pointed out that Libya has been a major oil producer in history. Before the civil war broke out in 2011, Tripoli produced more than 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day. The oil industry is the source of almost all tax revenue for the Libyan state. However, various crises that followed caused crude oil production to fall below the psychological threshold of 1 million barrels per day. Coupled with security concerns, this not only hindered investment, but also caused many major foreign oil companies to flee.

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Image Archive / Le logo de l'Opep, à l'extérieur du siège de l'organisation à Vienne, en Autriche, en mars 2022. （illustration) AP - Lisa Leutner / RFI Archive

Today, times have changed, and Libya’s hydrocarbon energy industry has regained its luster. The latest report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEP - Organization des Pays Exportateurs de Pétrole) believes that Libya's daily crude oil production in March 2024 was 1.24 million barrels, slightly more than Nigeria. Therefore, Libya has become the largest crude oil producer on the African continent.

- Libya becomes Africa's largest oil producer -

This report in the "Chronique des Matières Premières" column (Chronique des Matières Premières) of RFI stated at the end that although the current situation of the Nigerian oil industry is good, there are structural problems. The latest report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEP - Organization des Pays Exportateurs de Pétrole) mentioned that Nigeria's crude oil production fell by just over 5% in March this year. The reasons why Nigeria was forced to give up its position as Africa's largest oil producer are complex, including security factors and corruption. . . and other structural issues.