Brega Refinery | Credit: Khairallah Moner, Google Maps (Aug 2023)
Established in 1962, the Brega Refinery (also known as Marsa el-Brega Refinery or Marsa El Brega Oil Refinery) is a small-scale petroleum refinery with a crude oil nameplate processing capacity of 10,000 barrels per day, and located in Marsa el-Brega), situated in Ajdabiya in eastern Libya.
The refinery is operated by Sirte Oil Company (SOC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC). The facility was originally established as the Marsa el-Brega installation of Esso Standard Libya, before being nationalized and transferred to SOC in 1981.
Primary Crude Source is crude oil from SOC-operated fields in the Sirte Basin, including Nasser Field (one of Libya's largest), Raguba (Ar Raqubah) Field, Zelten Field and other SOC-operated fields, delivered via pipeline from production fields to Brega refinery.
The Brega refinery is a simple topping plant (atmospheric distillation only). Its processing units consist in:
- Atmospheric Distillation Unit (ADU) - primary processing unit for crude oil separation
- Crude Oil Desalter - removes salt and water content
- Stabilization Unit - recovers light petroleum gases
- Product Storage Tanks - for finished products
Main Refined Products are Kerosene (Jet Fuel), Diesel Oil (Gas Oil), Heavy Fuel Oil, Light Naphtha, Superbenzene (Premium Gasoline), Light Fuel. Light petroleum gas (LPG) is recovered from distillation and sent to the Brega Company's LPG Plant for further processing and distribution in the Al Jabal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain) region.
The Brega facility is part of a larger Marsa el-Brega Complex that includes critical petrochemical operations beyond the basic refinery.
References
- agenzia NOVA. Mar 24, 2023. The Libyan company Noc: "The capacity of the refineries amounts to 380,000 barrels per day"
- Offshore Technology. May 14, 2024. Petrochemicals complex profile: National Oil Corporation of Libya Marsa el Brega Complex, Libya
- Wikipedia. Sirte Oil Company (Page last updated: Nov 24, 2024)
- Energy Capital & Power. M. Goosen. Sep 12, 2025. Sirte Oil Drills New Well at Zelten Field Onshore Libya
