Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) this week reported 2020 revenues of just $5.9bn in 2020, a 74% fall on 2019’s $22.5bn. 2019 was a good year by Libyan standards as a relatively stable security environment enabled oil exports to average 1.04mn b/d (see chart 1).
Just about every other oil exporting country is reporting sizeable revenue falls for 2020, but for Libya the Covid-related fall in oil prices and demand is just a small factor in the story. An oil blockade imposed by eastern-based General Khalifa Haftar in January 2020 almost completely wiped-out production for much of the year (MEES, 13 November 2020). (CONTINUED - 955 WORDS)
