Spain-Libya trade surges in H1 2026

Bilateral trade between Spain and Libya expanded sharply in the first half of 2026, according to data published by the Spanish Embassy in Libya. Spanish exports to Libya reached €324.5 million, a rise of 114.6% year on year. Libyan exports to Spain totalled €2,267.09 million between January and June, a gain of 66.8%.

The corridor is structurally asymmetric. Libya sends hydrocarbons. Spain sends goods. Full-year 2024 trade data show Libya's exports to Spain were concentrated almost entirely in mineral fuels and oils, accounting for $2.49 billion of a $2.55 billion total. On the Spanish side, the export basket in 2024 included vehicles, live animals, machinery, and ceramic products, categories that track Libya's re-emerging domestic demand rather than any single commodity cycle.

Repsol sits at the centre of the upstream relationship. The company has operated in Libya since the early 1970s, conducting development and production through Akakus Oil Operations, a joint operating company on behalf of the National Oil Corporation alongside TotalEnergies, OMV, and Equinor. In April 2026, Repsol announced a new oil discovery in the Murzuq Basin. The company is targeting production of 350,000 barrels per day at the El Sharara field by the end of 2026.

The upstream activity intensified in February 2026 when the NOC concluded its first licensing round since 2007. Repsol secured blocks in consortium with MOLGroup and Türkiye Petrolleri, giving it a new exploration footprint beyond its legacy producing assets. The round was the NOC's first public bidding process in two decades, signalling a deliberate re-opening of Libya's energy sector to Western capital after a post-2011 freeze.

"Libya is a key player in the global energy market thanks to their inner most oil and gas reserves." — Josu Jon Imaz San Miguel, Chief Executive Officer, Repsol.

Two diplomatic events in April 2026 compressed the commercial calendar. MedSky launched twice-weekly direct flights between Tripoli's Mitiga airport and Madrid on 21 April, marking the return of direct air connectivity between the two countries after more than a decade. The Libyan-Spanish Economic Forum, organised by the Libyan General Union of Chambers of Commerce in conjunction with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, convened in Madrid on 23 and 24 April.

Spain ranks as the second-largest European destination for Libyan crude, behind Italy, which received approximately 13.4 million tonnes in 2025. The comparison is instructive. Eni's deep operational presence in Libya created commercial relationships running from upstream fields through to downstream refinery processing. Repsol's position replicates that logic at smaller scale, embedding Spanish industrial interests on the production side of the barrels that subsequently appear as imports.

Libya's authorities have stated a target of raising crude output from around 1.4 million barrels per day toward 1.6 million barrels per day by the end of 2026. Every additional barrel flowing into Spain is simultaneously a Repsol production event and a Spanish import event, placing Madrid on both sides of the ledger.

On the export side, Spain competes for Libyan import demand against China, Turkey, and Italy, Libya's three largest goods suppliers in 2024. The H1 2026 export figure of €324.5 million represents the clearest signal yet that Spanish manufacturers are converting the diplomatic opening into order flow.

The H1 data confirm that the energy corridor is widening and that Spanish goods exporters are moving in behind it.