War-torn Libya needs 40% more oil output to ensure country’s reconstruction
Libya, with the largest oil reserves in Africa, pumps about 1.3 million barrels of crude per day
Updated 23 August 2021
Arab News
RIYADH: Libya needs to increase its oil production by 40 percent to about 1.8 million barrels per day from 2022 to cover its expenditures and implement economic reforms, says the country’s central bank governor.
Libya, with the largest oil reserves in Africa, pumps about 1.3 million barrels of crude per day.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Central Bank of Libya Gov. Saddek El Kaber said oil is the country’s only source of income and increased production would ensure $35 billion in revenue next year.
He said the funds will help the war-torn country in carrying out development and reconstruction plans.
Libya’s oil revenues are expected to reach $25 billion in 2021 compared to $3.6 billion in 2020 revenues.
El Kaber said that despite the gross domestic debt reaching 270 percent, it is unlikely to resort to external borrowing in the short and medium terms.
He also said Libya’s gold reserves are estimated at 116.6 tons, and the central bank is working on a plan to ensure that lenders continue to provide liquidity on a daily basis with a high withdrawal ceiling.
Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals
The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals
Updated 20 January 2026
Arab News
LONDON: Countries need to collaborate on mining and resources to help avoid geopolitical tensions, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
“The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals, the concentration in different areas of the world,” Bandar Alkhorayef told a panel discussion on the geopolitics of materials.
“The rational thing to do is to collaborate, and that’s what we are doing,” he added. “We are creating a platform of collaboration in Saudi Arabia.”
Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources
The Kingdom last week hosted the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Alkhorayef said the platform was launched by the government in 2022 as a contribution to the global community. “It’s very important to have a global movement, and that’s why we launched the Future Minerals Forum,” he said. “It is the most important platform of global mining leaders.”
The Kingdom has made mining one of the key pillars of its economy, rapidly expanding the sector under the Vision 2030 reform program with an eye on diversification. Saudi Arabia has an estimated $2.5 trillion in mineral wealth and the ramping up of extraction comes at a time of intense global competition for resources to drive technological development in areas like AI and renewables.
“We realized that unlocking the value that we have in our natural resources, of the different minerals that we have, will definitely help our economy to grow to diversify,” Alkhorayef said. The Kingdom has worked to reduce the timelines required to set up mines while also protecting local communities, he added. Obtaining mining permits in Saudi Arabia has been reduced to just 30 to 90 days compared to the many years required in other countries, Alkhorayef said.
“We learned very, very early that permitting is a bottleneck in the system,” he added. “We all know, and we have to be very, very frank about this, that mining doesn’t have a good reputation globally.
“We are trying to change this and cutting down the licensing process doesn’t only solve it. You need also to show the communities the impact of the mining on their lives.”
Saudi Arabia’s new mining investment laws have placed great emphasis on the development of society and local communities, along with protecting the environment and incorporating new technologies, Alkhorayef said. “We want to build the future mines; we don’t want to build old mines.”
