Libyan Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh
Chaos the new normal for Libya’s oil sector
Hopes for a recovery by the North African oil producer remain in tatters
International confidence in Libya’s oil sector has plummeted following a month-long blockade by one of the country’s two rival governments. The eastern government in Benghazi ordered the blockade of ports and fields in late August to protest against the firing of the chairman of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), Sadiq al-Kabir, by the western government in Tripoli. This blockade was a civilised affair, completed not by militias storming oil installations but by phone calls from the army of Khalifa Haftar, a powerful warlord allied to the eastern government. Within days, oil production fell from 1.2m b/d to approximately 0.5m b/d. It lasted until 1 October, when UN mediators secured agreement
Also in this section
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
8 January 2026
The region’s access to versatile feedstock, combined with policy support, is setting it up to meet growing demand both at home and abroad
7 January 2026
No longer can the energy source be considered a sidekick to oil in the Middle East and neither should it step aside for less convincing alternatives
