power production was comparatively high by comparison with other underdeveloped countries but, in aggregate terms, was minimal. Manufacturing, because of the smallness of the market and the country's former poverty, was only at the start of coordinated development. As a consequence of the government's development plans since 1963, construction was the most developed part of the nonhydrocarbon industrial sector.

Foreign trade in the early 1970s was directed mainly to Western Europe, although American purchases from Libya were increasing and its sales to Libya already were sizable. Libya's exports consisted almost entirely of hydrocarbons. Imports included most manufactured goods and some foodstuffs.

In mid-1972 any apparent labor union movement was mostly a mirage. Although a good deal of time, effort, and attention had in the recent past been directed to the establishment of a labor movement, it had for practical purposes been eliminated by the determination of the government in April 1972 that there did not, in fact, exist a legal right to strike.

PETROLEUM SECTOR

Since the early 1960s the petroleum industry has increasingly dominated the industrial sector, and by 1972 it dominated the whole economy. The development of the oil industry was remarkable, both in terms of its rapidity and its prolificacy. Basic to that development was the fact that ownership of subsoil mineral and water rights lay with the government, which meant that the large international oil companies could deal directly with one owner rather than with a host of small owners.

An exceptional combination of circumstances contributed to the development of the petroleum sector. Libyan crude oil, like that of Algeria, although having a rather high wax content, is lighter and easier to handle than crude oils from most other petroleum areas. It also has a low sulfur content, which makes it easier on internal combustion engines and less of a pollutant than other crudes. For this reason Libyan crude oils from the start had a receptive market in Europe; furthermore, Libya is one-third closer to the markets of Europe than are the oil ports of the eastern Mediterranean. When the Suez Canal was closed by the Arab-Israeli War in 1967, forcing the tanker routes from Iran and the Arabian peninsula to go around the cape of Good Hope, the advantages of Libyan petroleum were enhanced. The lay of the land itself, moreover, which allows the output of the wells to be piped directly and easily to dockside totally over Libyan territory, provided an element of assurance to the steadiness of supply, which has not necessarily pertained at the eastern Mediterranean pipeline outlets. In addition, Libya's

petroleum development benefited by the technology and experience that had been acquired during the preceding half-century by the industry in other parts of the petroleum world.

Although the military coup of September 1, 1969, did not, in the petroleum context, represent an abrupt rupture of continuity, it did introduce a shift in government attitude toward the purpose and function of the foreign operating companies in line with its general nationalist-socialist political and socioeconomic orientation. It is therefore useful to visualize Libya's petroleum development in terms of two periods, dividing at September 1, 1969, the earlier period for present purposes serving in a preparatory role for the later one.

Active exploration for oil started in 1953. The first well was begun in 1956 in western Fezzan; the first oil was struck in 1957; the first commercial strike was made by Esso Standard Libya in 1959; and the first oil flowed by pipeline from Esso's concession at Zelten to its export facilities at Marsa al Burayqah (Marsa el Brega) in 1961. The country's total output increased from 7 million barrels in 1961 to 1,212 million barrels in 1970 (see table 18).

The original major strikes were in the Sirtica Basin southeast of the Gulf of Sidra, and in 1972 they were still the source of the bulk of Libya's output (see ch. 3). A major strike was made in 1969 at Serir, well to the southeast of the Sirtica Basin fields, and minor strikes had been made in northwestern Tripolitania.

Oilfields, Pipelines, and Export Terminals

The physical status of the country's petroleum complex could perhaps best be visualized in terms of its pipeline (and export) terminals, of which there were five at the start of 1972 (see fig. 7). In several cases terminals serviced more than one producing company or group. The capital investment was predominantly American.

In 1971 the most important field was still Esso's Zelten field, about 110 miles south of the Mediterranean. It is connected to the coast at Marsa al Burayqah by a thirty-inch pipeline. A reverse thirty-sixinch pipeline orginally carried seawater to the field for injection into the wells to maintain pressure; it now transports natural gas to Esso's liquefaction plant. Esso also had a majority interest (with Sinclair Oil Company and W. R. Grace Company) in a smaller field at Raguba, which is connected to the Marsa al Burayqah-Zelten line by a twenty-inch pipeline. Esso came into production in 1961. Pipeline capacity in 1971 was 780,000 barrels per day. In 1970 production from the Esso-operated fields was 267 million barrels.

The Oasis Oil Company of Libya in 1972 was owned by Continental Oil Company of Libya (one-third), Marathon Petroleum of Libya (one-third), Amerada Petroleum Corporation of Libya (one-sixth), and Libya Shell N. V. (one-sixth). It had fields at Dahra, Waha, Samah, and Zaggut. These fields were initially linked to Dahra by a

Table 18. Production and Prices of Natural Gas and Petroleum in Libya, 1961-72

2 In billion cubic feet per year; mostly flared at the field.

3` In millions of barrels per year. Barrels of forty-two gallons each. About 7.6 barrels equal one metric ton. The number of barrels to the ton depends on the specific gravity of the crude

oil.

thirty-two-inch pipeline, and Dahra was connected to a terminal on the coast at As Sidr by a thirty-inch pipeline. Zaggut was connected by a thirty-inch pipeline to a field at Jalo (sometimes seen as Jalu or Gialo). Additional trunk and interfield connections were subsequently installed, raising the company's pipeline capacity at the start of the 1970s to close to 1 million barrels a day, the largest company capacity in Libya. Oasis went into production in 1962, and in 1970 production totaled 345 million barrels.

Mobil Oil Libya, 35 percent of which was owned by Gelsenberg Libyan Branch, has fields at Hofra (south of Dahra) and at Ora. The fields are connected by branch lines to a thirty-inch main line leading to Mobil's terminal at Ras al Unuf on the Gulf of Sidra. Mobil's major field, at Amal, and one at Rakb are connected to the same terminal by a second pipeline, thirty inches in diameter, which was completed in 1966. This pipeline, which is also used by American Overseas Petroleum (Amoseas), had a total capacity of about 750,000 barrels a day. Mobil first went into production in 1963; production in 1970 totaled some 92 million barrels.

Amoseas, jointly owned by the California Asiatic Company and Texaco Overseas Petroleum, has fields at Beda and Nefoora. Originally the Beda field used the Oasis Oil Company's Dahra-As Sidr outlet. Subsequently it was joined to Mobil's Ora-Ras al Unuf pipeline, in which Amoseas has a 30-percent ownership participation. The Nefoora field is tied into Mobil's Amal-Ras al Unuf pipeline. Amoseas first went into production in 1964; its output in 1970 was some 118 million barrels.

British Petroleum Exploration Company (Libya) and Nelson Bunker Hunt are equal partners in a large field at Serir, south of Tobruk, with a capacity in 1970 of up to 600,000 barrels a day. The field is connected by a thirty-four-inch pipeline to their terminal at Marsa al Hariqalo near Tobruk. Production commenced in 1966; production in 1970 totaled 151 million barrels.

Occidental of Libya made large discoveries in 1967 at its Idris field, which in 1969 was renamed Intisar field. By early 1968 the company had laid a forty-inch pipeline from Intisar to a new terminal at Az Zuwaytinah on the Gulf of Sidra. Subsequently a twenty-four-inch spur was extended to the company's Augila field, and a forty-inch extension was added to the main line in the Intisar field. Pipeline capacity was over 1 million barrels a day. Production began in 1968; in 1970 it totaled 240 million barrels.

At the end of 1971 ENI-AGIP, an Italian state-owned oil company, was completing a thirty-inch petroleum pipeline from its discoveries to Occidental's Intisar-Az Zuwaytinah pipeline. It also proposed to build a thirty-six-inch natural-gas line to Occidental's gas reservoir at its Intisar field for storage, presumably until Occidental should complete a proposed natural-gas liquefaction plant.

Figure 7. Major Oil Wells, Pipelines, and Terminals of Libya, 1972.

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