Foreign Ministry Explores Emergency Crude Oil and Naphtha Supplies from Algeria and Libya

[Financial News] The government has confirmed the possibility of securing emergency supplies of crude oil and naphtha from Algeria and Libya, two major oil-producing countries in Africa.
Park Jong-han, Coordinator for Economic Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, visited Algeria and Libya from the 13th to the 16th. During the trip, he met with senior energy officials from both countries, including Algeria’s Minister of Energy and Mining of Algeria Mohamed Arkab, Sonatrach President Nour Eddine Daoudi, Vice Foreign Minister Lounes Magramane, Libyan Presidential Council Deputy Chair Moussa al-Kuni, Minister of Oil and Gas of Libya Khalifa Rajab Abdulsadek, and National Oil Corporation (NOC) Executive Board Member Ahmad Ammar. They discussed the possibility of emergency supplies of crude oil and naphtha and explored options for medium- to long-term cooperation in the energy sector.
Sonatrach, established in December 1963, is Algeria’s state-owned oil and gas company. It is the largest such company in Africa and ranks among the world’s top 10 integrated energy producers.
The company accounts for about 26% of Algeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) and roughly 95% of the country’s total exports, making it a cornerstone of the national economy.
Sonatrach supplies gas through pipelines to Spain and Italy, and has rapidly emerged as a key energy supplier to Europe following the war in Ukraine.
Through the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Park confirmed that Libya produces medium and heavy crude grades. He examined the possibility of Korean companies purchasing these grades and strongly requested that, if there is demand from Korean firms, part of the crude volumes NOC allocates to oil traders be assigned to Korea.
NOC indicated that, provided technical conditions such as crude grade and delivery schedule are suitable and the buyer is deemed reliable, it would be willing to actively allocate supplies to Korea.
Libya holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, estimated at about 48.4 billion barrels, and is the world’s 10th-largest oil producer.
Libya’s daily oil output reached about 1.4 million barrels last year, nearly recovering to pre-revolution levels and marking the highest level in 12 years. The country aims to increase production to 1.5 million barrels per day by the end of this year and to 2 million barrels per day by 2030.
Park stressed to both countries that Korea imports all of its crude oil but, based on its highly advanced refining facilities, functions as a refining and trading hub that re-exports petroleum products across the Asia-Pacific region.
He noted that securing stable crude oil imports for Korea goes beyond domestic supply and demand. It is directly linked to maintaining the continuity and resilience of regional petroleum product supply chains and serves as a key policy variable for regional energy security.
Park also pointed out that, given the possibility of a prolonged geopolitical crisis in the Gulf region, it is becoming increasingly important to secure continuous and stable crude oil supply sources and to strengthen cooperation with oil-producing countries such as Algeria and Libya. He proposed that Algeria and Libya work with Korea to advance a wide range of medium- to long-term cooperation initiatives, including in the energy sector.
In addition, Park held meetings with representatives of Korean companies operating in Algeria and Libya. He listened directly to the challenges they face on the ground and explored ways the government could support them.
This trip is seen as a concrete achievement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea’s economic diplomacy. It helped identify short-term alternative supply sources to ease Korean companies’ immediate supply difficulties and, at a time of heightened energy supply uncertainty, built high-level consensus with North African countries that face relatively low geopolitical risks on cooperation in energy, economic security, and energy supply chains over the medium to long term.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea stated, "Building on the results of this trip, we will further deepen energy cooperation with Algeria and Libya, while continuously strengthening our economic diplomacy to reduce dependence on the Middle East and diversify our energy supply chains."


rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter