Libya’s Zawiya Refinery Under Drone Attacks: Energy Security at Risk – News and Statistics

Aug 13, 2026

Libya has been placed on elevated alert following repeated drone assaults on the Zawiya refinery complex, a facility critical to the nation’s energy security and its ambitions to expand crude output and lure overseas investors. The state-run National Oil Corporation cautioned that persistent strikes might compel it to invoke force majeure and halt operations, which could deepen reliance on imported fuels and interrupt crude shipments through one of the country’s most pivotal oil installations.

The site is equally vital to Libya’s extraction activities, given its pipeline connection to the Sharara field, among the largest in the nation, which channels crude for both local consumption and international sale. Fiza Jan, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy, observed that Zawiya occupies a central position linking upstream production, crude transport infrastructure, and the domestic fuel network, making it a possible conduit through which a contained security event could transform into a nationwide supply crisis.

The facility endured several strikes using explosive-laden drones, igniting blazes at multiple fuel storage tanks and interrupting operations. A tank holding roughly 4.5 million litres of petrol collapsed after catching fire, though no injuries were recorded. The corporation reported that emergency crews contained all fires sooner than anticipated, and the refinery itself escaped damage, although output faced a short-lived halt. Libya’s fuel supply has thus far stayed steady, buoyed by petrol reserves at the Tripoli depot and additional shipments being loaded onto tankers.

Concerns have extended past the refinery. A drone hit on the South Zawiya power substation triggered widespread blackouts in surrounding areas, while US firm GE halted work at the adjacent power plant and pulled its technical staff due to safety worries. Over 700 megawatts of the plant’s 1,300MW capacity went offline.

Zawiya stands as Libya’s biggest functioning refinery, with a daily processing capacity of 120,000 barrels, turning out petrol, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, fuel oil, and naphtha for domestic use. The broader complex also houses facilities for asphalt and lubricants. Even with this refinery, Libya leans heavily on imported refined goods for local needs, and a closure would amplify its import demands and strain the economy.

Sumit Ritolia, a senior manager at Kpler, noted that if the company declares force majeure and keeps the refinery idle for an extended stretch, Libyan import needs for products, especially gasoline and middle distillates, would likely climb, while crude destined for domestic processing could instead be exported or require other handling.

Zawiya has a history of vulnerability to security upheavals, having been shuttered during May clashes and hit by storage-tank fires in December 2024. The current incidents carry extra weight as they arrive just three months after intense fighting near the city forced a full shutdown and the evacuation of tankers from its port, with operations restarting two days later. Unlike earlier disruptions tied to militia confrontations, these latest attacks involve direct drone strikes on key infrastructure, possibly signalling a more concerning shift in the threats facing Libya’s oil sector.

The nation remains split politically between the UN-backed Government of National Unity in Tripoli and a rival eastern administration, with various armed factions still holding sway. The complex’s upstream importance is underscored by its link to the Sharara oilfield, which contributes roughly a quarter of Libya’s 1.4 million barrels per day output. A closure could hit Sharara production, worsening challenges for an economy that depends heavily on oil earnings.

Ms Jan remarked that repeated, direct drone assaults on energy assets represent a more worrying development because they show that high-value facilities can themselves be targeted, raising the security risk associated not just with current output but also with upkeep, expansion projects, and future capacity growth.

Libya, possessing Africa’s largest confirmed oil reserves at 48 billion barrels, is working to rejuvenate its hydrocarbon industry and draw more foreign capital. Earlier this year, it granted exploration rights for oil and gas blocks to firms such as Chevron, Eni, QatarEnergy, and Repsol in its first licensing round in nearly two decades. Tripoli targets crude production of 1.6 million bpd by late 2026, backed by fresh sector investments. The country yields some of North Africa’s most inexpensive, mostly sweet crude, much of which has stayed untapped since the 2011 civil war that toppled Muammar Qaddafi.