Initiating the construction of an oil refinery in southern Libya

 The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, announced, on Sunday, the initiation of the construction of an oil refinery in the south of the country, at a cost of up to 600 million dollars within three years.

Dabaiba said in a press conference from the headquarters of the National Oil Corporation in Tripoli: "Today we announce the start of a giant step, the actual start of the construction of an oil refinery project in the south, which the people of the region have been waiting for for many years."

For his part, the head of the corporation in charge of managing the hydrocarbon sector, Mustafa Sanalla, confirmed that the construction of the refinery will take up to three years, noting that "the cost of the project ranges between 500 and 600 million dollars, and it will provide annual profits of up to 75 million dollars."

Regarding the size and type of products that the refinery will provide, he added, "It will save more than 1.3 million liters of gasoline and more than one million liters of diesel per day, while it will produce 600,000 liters of jet fuel."

The head of the National Oil Corporation noted the importance of the project's contribution to the development of the oil-rich south of Libya. In this regard, he said, "it will provide important places for direct and indirect jobs."

In addition to an oil refinery, a cooking gas plant will be established within 18 months, with a production capacity of more than 8,000 cylinders per day.

The idea of ​​establishing the South Refinery project dates back to the eighties of the last century, but it has not been realized for decades for unknown reasons.

The idea of ​​the project was revived in 2017, when it was commissioned by Zallaf Oil and Gas Company (Libyan) to implement it, and during the past three years it completed all the technical designs of the refinery and an economic feasibility study.

The South Refinery will be established near the "Sharara" oil field in the Ubari region, 900 km southwest of Tripoli, which is the largest oil field in Libya in terms of production with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.

The oil sector, the only and main resource for Libya, faces repeated security and economic challenges, especially with the frequent closure of oil fields and ports as a result of armed conflicts, labor protests or terrorist attacks.

Currently, Libya's daily production of crude exceeds 1.2 million barrels. With the rise in international oil prices, the country achieved significant revenues of nearly two billion dollars last August, according to the National Oil Corporation.