A major natural resource found in Libya is petroleum. In 1956, petroleum was discovered in Libya. The oil reserves in Libya make up three percent of the total amount in the world. Libya did sell oil to European countries. In 1980, there was a decline in sales due to a decline in demand because the amount of oil found in other places were enough. [1] Libya is in competition with other countries for supplying oil, however, Libya is one of those most important African countries that supplies oil.

At one point in time, Libya was producing 1.6 million barrels of oil each day. That number decline in 2014 to 800,000 a day because of rebel groups. This was a big decrease in production and affected Libya negatively.

Libya depends on oil for their economy. In 2010, by exporting oil, $47 billion dollars was made for the treasury. BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total are among other corporations that are in Libya using their oil. [2]

Not only does the supply and demand, as well as the availability of oil, affect the Libyan economy, but it also affects the entire world. Because Libya has such an impact on the oil industry due to its amount found in the country, it can have effects on other oil. Oil from Libya can affect the prices of all the other countries that trade oil. [3]

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As mentioned before, there are rebel groups in Libya. These groups of people have been known to cause a decline in the oil market. There are rival groups that protest and fight other groups that are armed as well. They have been known to make demands in political and financial areas. The constant attacks and threats will cause production rates to decline and could essentially ruin the whole Libyan oil export situation. [5]

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[1] http://www.britannica.com/place/Libya

[2] http://journal-neo.org/2015/03/15/rus-liviya-neftyanoj-sektor-pod-pritselom-boevikov/

[3] http://rx9vh3hy4r.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Oil+and+economic+development%3A+Libya+in+the+post-Gaddafi+era&rft.jtitle=Economic+modelling&rft.au=Ali%2C+Issa&rft.au=Harvie%2C+Charles&rft.date=2013-05-01&rft.issn=0264-9993&rft.eissn=1873-6122&rft.volume=32&rft.spage=273&rft.epage=285

[4] http://www.globalresearch.ca/protests-grow-as-western-powers-rival-militias-loot-libyan-oil-industry/5355345

[5] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6346.2015.06568.x/epdf