A dearth of investment in Libya’s oil sector is sharply undercutting the Libya’s ability to revive production critical to the economy, the United Nations envoy to the country said.
The warning by Ghassan Salamé comes as two rival leaders attempt to reach a power-sharing agreement that could mark a breakthrough in ending the eight-year crisis facing the country.
Libya needs to “reinvest quickly in oil fields because some of the oil fields are being depleted,” Salamé said in an interview late Saturday. “With the new technology that is needed you can do marvels, and nothing is being done on this level.” State-run National Oil Corp. doesn’t have access to sufficient funding to do the job, he said.
Salamé has been spearheading the reconciliation push between the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar, who controls most of Libya’s oil resources after an offensive in the southern part of the country this year.
