Libya's Oil Production to Increase by October

Libya's oil production is set to reach 500,000 bpd by early October or nearly a third of pre-war output, a senior source in the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. OPEC member's pre-war production was around 1.6 million bpd and the resumption will help Libya's interim leaders start earning revenues badly needed to kickstart the economy after seven months of war.

"By the beginning of October, we can reach 500,000 bpd," the NOC source said on condition of anonymity. He said the offshore Total-run 45,000 bpd Al-Jurf field was in the process of restarting and that the larger 200,000 bpd Repsol-operated El-Sharara field, deep in the western desert, would begin pumping soon. "Al-Jurf is in the process of restarting. Sharara has been liberated by our troops yesterday and we have sent technical operators with the Libyan troops. They expect production to be back in a very short time," he said, adding that foreign workers were not required to begin pumping oil.

Libya is already producing oil from the eastern field of Sarir and sending it to the export terminal of Tobruk, NOC subsidiary Agoco has said. A source working in the Libyan oil industry said that Repsol had sent a small team to Tripoli to meet with officials. Total and Repsol declined comment. The NOC source said the 120,000 bpd Zawiyah refinery is due to restart next week and will be fed by importing crude oil from other Libyan ports.

The refinery, just 70 km down the coast from the capital Tripoli, is the only one in Libya that can produce a significant amount of gasoline and is crucial to providing fuels for both civilian and military purposes. This will help cut the crippling costs of buying fuel on the international spot market, although even in peacetime Libya relied on imports to meet domestic demand.

"We will bring in some oil to restart it. It will start on the 28 or 29 September," he said. The smaller Tobruk and Sarir refineries in east Libya, with a combined capacity of 30,000 bpd, have already resumed processing oil. - Reuters