After having its oil facilities affected by protests and blockades in recent months, oil production in Libya is now getting back on track with it reaching 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd).
Reuters received the news in a text message from Mohammed Oun, the oil minister in Libya’s Government of National Unity. The force majeure that had been declared in response to closures and protests has crippled the country’s oil exports recently, but the appointment of Farhat Bengdara as the head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has gone some way to relieving the political deadlock in the country. The first tankers have already arrived at Libyan port terminals to take on crude oil for export.
The resumption of production may pave the way for TotalEnergies, the maker of Total lubricant products, to progress with agreements it signed last year to develop solar photovoltaic projects and its Waha concessions. At the time, Patrick Pouyanné, TotalEnergies’ CEO and chairman, said:
“We aim to assist the country in building a more sustainable future through a better use of the country’s natural resources, including solar energy, which will directly improve the accessibility of cleaner, more reliable and more affordable electricity to the Libyan people.”
The NOC is planning to quickly return to its previous production rate of 1.2 million bpd. The return of Libyan oil exports should help in easing the global oil markets, which have been relatively tight since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a large dislocation in crude oil supplies.
