• Agoco completes major overhaul of Al-Sarir refinery in eastern Libya
• Facility resumes operations after planned shutdown and safety tests
• Restart comes as Libya seeks to expand refining capacity nationwide

Libya’s Al-Sarir refinery, located in the eastern part of the country, has restored its production capacity following the completion of major maintenance work on its facilities, operator Arabian Gulf Oil Company said.

Agoco, a subsidiary of the National Oil Corporation, announced on Wednesday, February 4, that the overhaul focused mainly on the crude distillation unit, the core of the refining process. The large-scale operation required a planned shutdown to carry out extensive mechanical and technical work. According to the company, maintenance was completed on January 21, 2026, allowing the restart phase to begin.

The facility was subsequently subjected to a series of technical tests to verify equipment safety and performance. Agoco said the introduction of crude into the distillation unit began at 10:53 a.m., marking the gradual return of the refinery to normal operations.

The restart took place amid difficult weather conditions, including sandstorms, as well as several technical constraints. Despite these challenges, Agoco said the maintenance operation was completed without incident.

“This restart reflects the efficiency of national staff, the precision of planning and monitoring by the supervisory committee, and a strong commitment to safety and quality standards, supporting operational stability, refinery reliability, and production sustainability,” the company said in a Facebook post.

Al-Sarir among Libya’s five refineries

According to information published by Tripoli-based oil and gas services company PetroGas Libya, the country claims total refining capacity of about 380,000 barrels per day, well above domestic consumption of petroleum products, estimated at between 227,000 and 235,000 b/d by several sources.

At the same time, Libya remains heavily dependent on imports, estimated at around 258,000 barrels per day in 2024, or more than 41 million liters per day, according to a study by The Sentry published in November 2025.

With a capacity of 10,000 b/d, Al-Sarir is classified among the simple distillation “topping” refineries, alongside Brega (10,000 b/d) and Tobruk (20,000 b/d). These facilities operate alongside the larger refineries of Ras Lanuf (220,000 b/d) and Zawiya (120,000 b/d), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

As reported by Ecofin Agency, the NOC plans to increase Libya’s crude refining capacity to 660,000 b/d, while the country is also targeting oil production of 1.6 million b/d by the end of 2026.

Abdel-Latif Boureima