Türkiye and the dream of conquering the Libyan energy market

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, over the past few years, Influence in the countries of the African continent has become especially important for Turkey, and Libya, as a rich oil country and a valuable consumer market, is very important for the Turkish government and the private sector companies of this country.

In the last few years, during the turbulent and unstable situation of the Libyan political arena, Erdogan’s government tried to practically keep a protégé government in power in this country. But this ambitious request was not realized with the presence of major actors such as Egypt, Russia and others.

But Turkey, in parallel with extensive defense-security measures in Libya, also in the field of economy and energy It is currently active. Now dozens of powerful Turkish private sector companies are operating in Libya in the agriculture-food, textile and clothing and services fields, but recently, the energy sector has also become the territory of Turkey’s favorite fields.

The recent visit of Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alp Arslan Birkdar and his attendance at a conference related to the use of renewable energy in Libya showed that Turkey plans to make huge profits from the Libyan market in the next few years.

Turkey wants the entire Libyan energy market

Alp Arslan Birqdar, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, said about the importance of Ankara-Tripoli relations: “We have provided the necessary military assistance and supported our brothers in Libya. The maritime border agreement we signed with Libya in 2019 has brought our cooperation to a high level. Last year, we took great steps with a new memorandum of understanding on cooperation, and now the cooperation between Turkey and Libya continues in the fields of energy, oil and natural gas, mines and electricity. Our private sector companies and government companies are working hard in Libya and we have made very serious decisions for future cooperation. I hope to see the results of our work. Turkey and Libya will advance their cooperation in many fields in a long-term and stable way, including in the field of energy. Libya is a very rich country in terms of oil, natural gas and mineral resources. But of course there is a need for stability. In order for the investment here to be more durable, some studies have been done that should be implemented”.

The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey announced that Turkey can build energy infrastructure , to help Libya in the transmission and distribution of electricity and energy production, and in particular to completely take over the solar energy sector of Libya. In the future, two Turkish oil exploration ships will be sent to Libya along with four engineering teams of this country and will take charge of the new discoveries in Libya.

Libyans’ green light for Turkey

Aksham newspaper, one of the most important newspapers under the Turkish Justice and Development Party, mentioned this in a detailed report. that Libya is looking for a way to diversify its energy portfolio and wants to count on Turkey more than any other country.

Aksham wrote: “Libya for Turkey is a friendly country. Now this oil friend wants to rely on Turkey’s experiences and go towards renewable energies. The rich North African country, whose economy is largely dependent on oil and natural gas exports, has been working to diversify its energy sources. Currently, almost 80 percent of Libya’s electricity demand is met by oil, but it is set to increase the share of renewable sources in its energy portfolio to meet growing demand. Libya’s effort to use renewable energy has become a great opportunity for Turkey’s economy”. Solar energy

> has interrupted Al-Ansari announced that Libya has a very good solar energy potential and that the country plans to create at least 20% of its energy portfolio from renewable sources by 2035.

Ansari He said: “The goal of 4 gigawatts of renewable energy in our strategy includes three stages: in the first stage, we will try to reach the capacity of 1.7 gigawatts by the end of 2027. Then, in the second stage, we will reach 2.5 gigawatts by the end of 2030, and in the third stage, we will achieve the remaining capacity by 2035. We have problems in terms of legal regulations and financing. But we have formulated a comprehensive strategy to overcome these problems. International cooperation is vital to overcome these obstacles. The gate of our country is open to all international companies, investors and everyone. Due to the strong historical relations between the two countries, Turkey has a good opportunity to work and can be a part of this strategy”. It is implemented and based on this plan, the installation of solar energy systems on the roof for residential, industrial and agricultural consumers is on the agenda, and then the Libyan government works on wind energy and green hydrogen.

The delegation of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey has announced that it can have an active presence in all these fields, and currently, in addition to the subdivisions of the Ministry of Energy, at least 5 huge companies of the private sector in Turkey They are ready to work in this field in Libya.

Doesn’t Turkey have a rival in Libya?

Some media outlets under the command of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party talk about the political balance in Libya as if the government supported by Ankara is in this country without any problems or obstacles. He is in power and the situation in Libya is normal. Meanwhile, there is still no news of complete stability and security.

According to OPEC data, the Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) produces approximately 1.2 million barrels of oil per day. and is taking extensive measures to increase this amount to 2 million barrels in 2 to 5 years. Part of the profit will be invested in renewable energy and Turkey is eyeing this huge wealth. The establishment of gas liquefaction facilities and the construction of gas pipelines will be held in 2024. With the aim of expanding the supply of gas in the domestic market and exporting to Europe, NOC signed an 8 billion dollar partnership agreement with the Italian energy giant Eni in January 2023.

To be implemented in 2026, a significant increase in Libya’s gas production capacity is on the agenda.

In March 2023, NOC signed with the American company Honeywell-UOP to build a refinery with a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day. In July 2023, NOC’s subsidiary Libya National Drilling Company reached an agreement with France-based Schlumberger to drill three new wells.

Libya also signed an agreement with Equinor in October 2023. Signed to assess offshore potential and establish new drilling and production areas. Meanwhile, in November 2023, a $300 million contract was awarded to Italy’s Rossetti for engineering, procurement and construction services in a gas production project off the coast of Libya.

Spain and France is also two countries that have a history of oil and gas activities in Libya. Now, of the target of 4 gigawatts of solar energy in Libya, an eighth of it, i.e. a capacity of 500 megawatts, has reached France’s Total, and Turkey should try to sign a contract at least as large as Total.

At the end, you should He said, in the past few years, Erdogan’s government has tried to use Libya’s various gifts and capacities and strengthen its foothold in Africa and the Mediterranean through this important and rich Arab-African country. p dir=”RTL”>But the fact is that Turkey has only achieved some successes and relative privileges in this direction and has not been able to quickly achieve its goals. On the other hand, in both the technical and investment sectors, powerful competitors such as China, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and some other countries, tend to take over some of the concessions in Libya’s energy sector. Now we have to see how far Turkey can succeed in this financial and technical campaign.

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