Libya eyes 62% oil output rise to 2.1 million barrels per day

ANKARA

The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) plans to raise oil production capacity to 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) over the next few years from the current capacity of over 1.3 million bpd, Mustafa Sanalla, the head of NOC, said on Wednesday at the Libya Investment Forum.

During the forum, Sanalla explained Libya’s aim to revive its oil and gas sector that had faced many setbacks in the last few years due to armed conflicts and disorder, and which led to the closure of many oil and gas fields and export terminals.

"Our crude oil production went down repeatedly to as low as 100,000 bpd, or 7% of our regular production capacity," he said.

Despite the prolonged shutdown of production and export facilities caused corrosion and damage to equipment, storage tanks and pipelines, production was repeatedly brought back up to more than 1 million bpd, he said.

The NOC plans to launch a number of projects that will significantly serve to achieve its strategic goals for the future advancement and development of the sector at all levels.

One of the focal points is the production of 4.1 billion cubic feet per day of gas in the onshore and offshore fields to meet the increasing gas demand and extract liquid fuels currently used for power generation and direct them for export, Sanalla said.

The NOC is also keen to benefit from renewable energies to meet part of the energy needed to operate oil facilities, by taking advantage of the great developments in renewable technologies, with a keenness to reduce carbon emissions, he concluded.

Libya, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), was producing 1.6 million bpd before a civil war erupted in 2011, wrecking its oil industry and cutting output to as little as 100,000 bpd last year.

The country had an average daily production of 1.3 million barrels in April, according to OPEC figures, a rise from 1.28 million barrels in March.

However, it is estimated that the oil production may be currently down by over 200,000 bpd from around 1.1 million bpd in May.