LONDON: Global oil companies and traders including Vitol, Trafigura and Total Energy have won bids to supply petrol and diesel to Libya, three trade sources told Reuters, as the country grants wider access to major Western companies and cuts imports of Russian fuel.
Libya is in the process of overhauling its oil sector, 15 years after the ouster of leader Muammar Gaddafi and years of civil war.
The country produces about 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, but lacks the infrastructure to refine the oil and relies on fuel imports. After issuing its first upstream license round in 20 years to expand oil production to 2 million barrels per day, Africa’s second-largest oil producer is now changing the way it sells its oil and buys the fuel it needs. Rather than exchanging fuel imports for crude oil exports, it issued a bid to cover its fuel needs.
Vitol won the right to supply five to 10 gasoline cargoes a month and some diesel cargoes in a bid in recent weeks that had not been previously reported, according to three traders with knowledge of the results.
Trafigura and TotalEnergies also won the rights to supply the fuel, two of the three traders said. Reuters was unable to establish exact quantities.
Vitol, Trafigura and TotalEnergies declined to comment. Libya’s National Oil Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bid.
Imports from Russia decreased
The tender will further reduce imports of Russian goods into Libya, as Western companies source large quantities of products from refineries in the Mediterranean.
Russia’s fuel exports to Libya fell from 56,000 barrels per day in 2024-2025, when it was a major supplier, to around 5,000 barrels per day in 2026, according to live data from global analysis firm Kpler.
Italy has become Libya’s biggest fuel supplier this year, supplying 59,000 barrels a day, mainly from the ISAB and Saroch refineries operated by Trafigura and Vitol, according to Kpler data.
The Russian government has relied heavily on Africa, Asia and South America for fuel sales since sanctions related to the Ukraine war banned imports of refined products from the West. The Kremlin also sees oil exports to India and Turkey falling due to U.S. pressure, directing more oil to China.
Since the beginning of 2024, overall fuel exports to Libya from all sources have averaged approximately 186,000 barrels per day.
Companies will also have access to crude oil exports
Libya will also change the way it handles oil exports, the official said.
Swiss-based trading company BGN has been a major exporter, but all three traders said the volume of crude lifted will be significantly reduced as export rights are allocated to larger Western companies.
TransMed Trading, a small Swiss-based trading company, also took off some crude oil cargoes in January and will continue to increase volumes in the coming months, two of the three sources said.
Transmed and BGN did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Libya also signed a 25-year oil development agreement with Total Energy and ConocoPhillips in January that includes more than $20 billion in foreign investment.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Ahmad Gadar and Enes Tznaglu in London; Additional reporting by Reuters reporters in Moscow and America Hernandez and Ahmed Elmami in Paris; Editing by Dmitry Zhdanikov and Kirsten Donovan)
