Despite holding one of Africa’s largest oil reserves, Libya stands out as a country unable to transform this advantage into a stable energy strategy. Before 2011, the energy sector operated under state control and reflected a structure based on a high reserve-low diversification equation. Oil revenues constituted the main source of financing for the central state. This model created a rent-based economic order rather than strengthening institutional capacity.
In the post 2011 period, Libya’s energy sector became a direct reflection of political fragmentation. Oil fields, ports and pipelines began to be used not only as economic assets but also as instruments of military and political bargaining. During this process, the National Oil Corporation continued to exist technically as the country’s sole legitimate energy institution, yet in practice, it turned into a structure attempting to balance between different power centers. Frequent production disruptions between 2014 and 2020, forcibly closed terminals and pressure from militias pushed Libya into the category of an unreliable supply source in global en
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