Ra's Lanuf

Ra's Lanuf /ˌrɑːs ləˈnuːf/ (Arabic: راس لانوف‎ Raʾs Lānūf, also: Ra’s al-Unūf ) is a Mediterranean town in northern Libya, on the Gulf of Sidra. The town is also home to the Ra's Lanuf Refinery, completed in 1984, with a crude oil refining capacity of 220,000 bbl/d (35,000 m³/d). The oil refinery is operated by the Ra's Lanuf Oil & Gas Processing Company, a subsidiary of the state-owned National Oil Corporation. Additionally, the city houses the Ra's Lanuf petrochemical complex – a major oil terminal – and oil pipelines: the Amal–Ra's Lanuf, the Messla–Ra's Lanuf, and the Defa-Ra's Lanuf pipeline.

History

Classical

Ras Lanouf was part of the Greek Pentapolis colonies. The traditional western boundary of the Pentapolis lay at Arae Philaenorum. Some historians claim it is 40 km west of El Agheila, while others place Arae Philaenorum near Ra's Lanuf, and the modern Italian commemorative arch recording the Philaeni stood here before its destruction in 1973.

World War II

On 3 April 1941 there was a British war communiqué that in the North Africa Campaign in World War II in the night of 1 April 1941 Allied bomber aircraft heavily attacked German/Italian motor transport at Ra's Lanuf and destroyed many vehicles.