Libya crude commands premium, US import data shows

• High quality and ease of transportation
• 17.8m barrels exported to US last year
• Premium reflected in selling price

Exports of Libyan crude to the US command a premium over oil from other Middle East and North African (Mena) exporters, according to US government data, due to its high quality and ease of transportation.

Libya’s oil industry has endured a tumultuous 15 years, dragged down by the political instability that followed the 2011 uprising which killed longstanding ruler Muammar Gaddafi and left the country divided between rival administrations.

These are the Tripoli-based, United Nations-recognised Government of National Unity and the Benghazi-based House of Representatives, aligned with military commander Khalifa Haftar, whom the UAE has supported.

Fighting and unrest have caused periodic production shutdowns, although crude output has been relatively steady of late, averaging 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) since the start of 2025.

The premium is reflected in the average selling price of Libyan crude sent to the US, which reached $75 per barrel last year, according to AGBI calculations based on data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), a federal agency within the Department of Commerce.

BEA data showed Libyan crude oil exports to the US totalled 17.8 million barrels last year.

The average selling price for Saudi and Iraqi crude exports to the US last year was $71, while those of Kuwait and the UAE were $74 and $66 respectively, according to AGBI calculations based on BEA data.

Brent crude prices averaged $69 a barrel in 2025, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates, the lowest annual mean since 2020.

Libya’s high-quality sweet, light crude is easy to refine, according to the EIA, and usually commands a premium. The agency estimates Libya exported 24.5 million barrels of crude to the US last year, which is 38 percent higher than the BEA figure.

The difference between the two entities’ estimates for crude exports to the US from other Mena countries is much smaller. The variance on exports from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the UAE ranges from 0-4 percent, while for Kuwait the variance is 9 percent.

The EIA uses US Census Bureau international trade accounting, while BEA shows the balance of payments, said Dyna Faid, an analyst at risk management consultant Crisis24 in Paris and a Libya specialist.

“It depends on how a barrel arriving in the US is treated,” she said. “For example, when a Libyan cargo arrives in a certain month at customs, it is immediately treated by the EIA as a crude oil import, but it can appear in the trade accounts by the BEA under a different classification.”

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Most Mena oil producers export crude based on monthly official selling prices, or OSPs. These are usually set at a premium or discount to a benchmark such as Platts Dated Brent or Platts Oman/Dubai and apply to long-term supply agreements.

Libya issues monthly OSPs for several crude grades, but its output is prone to disruption and it sometimes halts publication of official prices.

Consequently, Libyan cargoes tend to be more opportunistic and trader-focused, which helps explain the differing BEA and EIA data.

“Direct Libya-to-US crude flows are cargo-driven and variable,” said Arsenio Longo, founder and CEO of HUAX Energy Intelligence, which specialises in maritime behavioural analysis.

“The broader route may be Libya into Mediterranean refining, including Italy or Sicily, and then refined products moving into Atlantic markets.”