Libya’s state oil company said there has been no disruption to crude output after a storm triggered deadly floods and left at least 5,500 people dead in the North African country.
Oil export ports in the east were unscathed by the storm and operated normally, Farhat Bengdara, president of the National Oil Corporation, said in an interview. Amos Hochstein, a senior energy adviser to US President Joe Biden, had earlier told Bloomberg Radio that there had been some cuts after the disaster.
Libya had closed eastern export ports during the storm last weekend and reopened them on Tuesday. NOC said then that oil production was running at 1.2 million barrels per day. He did not say what level of production it was at Friday. Italian company Eni SpA said the floods had not affected its operations in Libya.
Torrential rain unleashed by Mediterranean storm Daniel collapsed two dams, devastating the coastal city of Derna in northeastern Libya. Aid workers and international organizations continue to search for survivors among collapsed buildings.
The destruction has brought Libya’s oil industry back into focus. The country sits atop Africa’s largest reserves, but production has been regularly disrupted over the years by armed groups. Libya, however, has remained more stable since a truce in a civil war in the mid-2020s, with crude output above 1 million barrels per day for most of this year. Even so, it remains divided between rival administrations.
— With the assistance of Alberto Brambilla.
