• Libya supplied 13.4 million tonnes of crude oil to Italy in 2025, making it the country’s largest supplier.
• Libyan crude accounted for nearly one-quarter of Italy’s total oil imports during the year.
• Italy’s energy group Eni resumed exploration activities in Libya in 2025, supporting efforts to boost production to about 1.4 million barrels per day.

Libya delivered about 13.4 million tonnes of crude oil to Italy in 2025, according to data reported on Wednesday, March 4, by the Italian news agency Nova and cited by Libya Herald.

This volume represented nearly one-quarter of Italy’s total crude oil imports during the year. The data showed that Libya ranked ahead of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Iraq among Italy’s oil suppliers.

Europe has long served as the primary destination for Libyan crude exports, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). A large share of Libyan crude therefore flows to refineries located around the Mediterranean.

Geography plays a decisive role in this trade. The short distance between Libyan oil terminals and Italian ports facilitates maritime transport and reduces shipping times.

Italy also maintains a central role in Libya’s oil industry through the activities of Eni, the Italian energy group. Eni has operated in Libya for several decades and remains one of the main foreign operators in the country’s hydrocarbon sector.

The year 2025 marked the continuation of efforts to revive hydrocarbon exploration activities in Libya after several years of interruption.

In early October 2025, Eni resumed offshore exploration in block 4/16 located in northwestern Libya in partnership with the National Oil Corporation (NOC). This offshore restart followed a similar initiative launched six to twelve months earlier onshore in the Ghadames Basin.

The Ghadames Basin represents a prolific oil region in southwestern Libya. Officials seek to increase oil output in this region as the country maintains production around 1.4 million barrels per day.

This article was initially published in French by Abdel-Latif Boureima

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum