Libya aims to increase oil production by 8% in December, a level that would catapult it to the highest in more than a decade.
North Africa’s biggest producer should be able to pump about 1.3 million barrels a day by the end of the year, Farhat Bengdara, president of the National Oil Company, said in an interview. Avoiding field shutdowns and measures such as improved pay for oil workers already helped boost output by nearly a quarter from January 2022 to 1.2 million barrels a day now, he said.
Libya has been dogged by political turmoil since the overthrow and killing of leader Moammar Al Gaddafi in 2011, with a political stalemate pitting rival governments and factions against each other.
Crude output has often been held hostage by infighting, although output has remained steady this year, offering hope that the country’s problems may ease.
Bengdara said that 17 billion dollars of investment in 45 projects would allow the National Oil Corp. increase production to 2 million barrels per day in five years. If sustained, it would far surpass anything achieved during Gaddafi’s rule.
The government will offer rights to develop additional fields next year, he said.
NOC is resuming natural gas supply from the Mellitah complex after the maintenance, Bengdara said. The flows should remain stable for the next 5 years after the work, he said.
The NOC on Tuesday signed a $1.05 billion deal with Italy’s Eni SpA to capture natural gas in Torsion, a project expected to become operational in 2025.
International companies are working in the country to expand production in some of its main fields, such as the Waha deposit. Italy’s Eni SpA and BP Plc will start new drilling operations by the end of 2024, Bengdara said.
