Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Sunday that oil production rose to 1.205 million barrels, compared to 1.163 million bpd last week.
Libya’s NOC’s Chairman, Farhat Bengdara said last week that the corporation plans to raise oil production rates to 2 million bpd.
“This will be achieved in accordance with a 3-5 year medium-term plan, to increase crude oil production rates to two million barrels per day within available capabilities,” he added.
Bengadra stressed that “the current capabilities, in terms of reservoirs and reserves, will help to reach these rates,” explaining that Libya’s crude oil production has surpassed 1.2 million bpd. He added that increasing oil production has been the main goal of the Board since taking office.
Prior to Bengdara’s appointment, the NOC stated that exports had ranged from 365,000 bpd to 409,000 bpd. This was a result of the force majeure declared on loadings out of the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf terminals. As well as production at the El-Feel oil field, following the closures of the Brega and Zueitina terminals.
Crude production reached a two-year low of 650,000 bpd in June, according to the latest Platts survey of OPEC+ output by S&P Global Commodity Insights, against a capacity of 1.2 million b/d.
Libya has Africa’s largest oil reserves and hydrocarbons, which account for 95% of government revenues. This makes the control of the industry a key point of contention between its rival parties.
In August, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) said that oil revenues in the first seven months of 2022 amounted to about 56.1 billion dinars ($11.54 billion), according to a statement.