The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanalla, said that Libya has great potential to develop hydrocarbon resources and supply Europe with oil and natural gas by sea through pipelines using the already existing infrastructure.

In his speech during the “Towards the South: European Strategy for a New Geopolitical, Economic, Social and Cultural Season in the Mediterranean” forum, which was held in the Italian city of Sorrento, Sanalla added that Libya can provide safe supplies of oil and natural gas to Europe and can replace some of the current supplies.

He continued by saying that despite the belief of many observers that Libya remains a very dangerous region for oil investors. However, this is not exactly the case, noting that over the past two years, international oil companies such as Italy’s Eni, France’s Total Energy, Repsol, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, OMV and others have invested and contributed more than billion dollars annually to exploit the resources of Libya.

The Chairman of the Directors Board of the National Oil Corporation also indicated that other companies such as the British “BP” and “Sonatrach” of Algeria and others have resumed exploration and evaluation activities in Libya, and there are other companies that are interested in working in Libya in the near future.

Sanalla stressed that Libya is the right place to invest in natural gas due to the current crisis in Europe, due to its huge wealth, and it is a major oil producer in Africa, noting that natural gas is witnessing, in turn, an increase in demand in the main consumption areas in Italy and Europe as a result of tensions in Eastern Europe and their implications for the future of energy supplies and safe passages.