TRIPOLI – Libya’s oil production stood at 622,000 barrels a day (bpd) on Monday, up slightly from levels recorded before an armed faction agreed to lift a two-year blockade on major western pipelines on Dec. 14, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said.
Before the agreeement, Libya’s output stood at about 600,000 bpd, having doubled since September. The NOC said it could add a further 175,000 bpd to production within a month, and 270,000 bpd within three months, after the pipelines from the Sharara and El Feel fields were reopened.
Output remains well below the more than 1.6 million bpd Libya was producing before its 2011 uprising. Libya is one of two members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) exempted from a recent pledge to cut output.
An NOC official declined to give any further details on the restarting of production at the Sharara and El Feel oilfields.(Reuters)