Libya’s Oil and Gas Minister, Khalifa Abdulsadek, emphasized Türkiye’s importance as a strategic partner in the energy sector and called for strengthened collaboration in both conventional and renewable energy projects.
'A significant portion of natural gas heading to Europe goes through Türkiye. Also, it has advanced technology in the renewables. We want to make use of those things and have Türkiye as strategic partners in all energy sectors,' Abdulsadek told Anadolu at the Libya Energy and Economic Summit in the capital city of Tripoli.
Recalling his participation in the Istanbul Energy Forum in November 2024, he noted that he had held discussions with his Turkish counterpart, Alparslan Bayraktar, to explore opportunities for enhanced collaboration.
'We have a very good relationship with the [Turkish energy] minister. I extended the invitation beyond just fossil fuel exploration and development. We extended the invitation beyond this to unconventional as well as the renewables,' he said.
Highlighting the longstanding collaboration between two countries, the minister reiterated his invitation to Türkiye to expand its activities in Libya.
'Türkiye has worked in Libya in the past, and they still have some business to do in Libya. We invited them over to do more business in Libya. His Excellency, the minister, and myself have discussed future collaborations.
“We were looking forward to capitalizing on what we have already and doing more businesses, especially in the offshore areas. We are offering for the bid round right now. There is huge potential and big opportunities for us to collaborate on multiple projects.”
- Renewable energy opportunities
Abdulsadek underlined that Libya’s invitation to Türkiye is not limited to hydrocarbons but also extends to renewable and innovative energy sources.
'Libya has strategic locations when it comes to sun intensity. We have lots of sunshine... almost most of the year,' he said, adding that the country has a similar potential in the wind power as well.
'Libya offers great opportunities for investing in the renewables as well as the large coastline that we have. There might be a lot of potential in the wind as well as the hydrogen. We understand that Türkiye is one of the international partners that we are considering for some of those projects,' the minister added.
Abdulsadek expressed optimism about the prospects of collaboration with Türkiye, noting regular meetings between the two nations to evaluate opportunities.
'We think the future is very promising, and we think that we are going to have projects that will be a win-win for both of us and work on those projects,' he said and added: 'We see Türkiye as a hub for energy now.'
By Firdevs Yuksel and Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr