- BENGHAZI: Libya will begin exporting crude oil from the eastern port of Tobruk within 10 days and could be producing 1 million barrels per day (bpd) within six months, the chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said.
The North African country badly needs revenues from its main industry to fund reconstruction after a nearly seven-month war, with violent clashes continuing between interim leaders and forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi.
Benghazi-based oil firm Agoco confirmed earlier that it had started pumping oil from its eastern Sarir field slightly ahead of a planned start date of Sept. 15.
“We should have enough oil for a 1-million-barrel shipment from Tobruk in eight to ten days,” Nouri Berouin said in Benghazi.
He said that only Sarir was currently producing but that the country could reach output of 800,000 to 1 million bpd within six months.
“Our problem is with equipment and not production. We have a management crisis team for safety and maintenance. It will cost hundreds of millions to do all the repairs, not billions,” he said, adding that NOC was conducting a full damage survey.