利比亚是北非的一个阿拉伯国家,面积一百七十五万多平方公里,而人口却只有一百二十多万。这个国家90％以上的国土是沙漠和半沙漠,大部分不宜于农作。但是,在这广阔的沙漠下面却埋藏着丰富的石油,据估计,全部蕴藏量的有八十亿吨。利比亚的石油约在1953年开始勘探;1959年发现了泽尔登大油田;1961年开始出口石油;1963年年底,超过阿尔及利亚成为非洲最大的石油出口国;1964年上半年,它的产量占非洲原油总产量的52.2％。但是,利比亚的石油资源,都被美国以及英、法、意、荷、西德等外国石油垄断公司所控制。到1964年初,已有二十三个外国石油公司(半数以上是美国的)在利比亚勘探和开采石油, Libya is an Arab country in North Africa with an area of ​​over 1,750,000 square kilometers and a population of over 1.2 million. More than 90% of the country’s land is desert and semi-desert, most of which are not suitable for farming. However, rich oil is buried beneath this vast desert, with an estimated total of eight billion tonnes. Libya’s oil began exploration in about 1953; the Zelden large field was discovered in 1959; oil was exported in 1961; surpassing Algeria by the end of 1963 became Africa’s largest oil exporter; in the first half of 1964 it accounted for Africa 52.2% of the total output of crude oil. However, Libya’s oil resources are controlled by the United States and foreign oil monopolies such as Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and West Germany. By early 1964, 23 foreign oil companies (more than half the United States) had explored and exploited oil in Libya,