East Libyan oil firm producing about 95,000 bpd

Author: 
ANGUS MACSWAN | REUTERS
Publication Date: 
Thu, 2011-03-24 01:46

The Arabian Gulf Oil Co. (Agoco) usually produces more than 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), but Agoco Information Manager Abdel Jalil Mayuf said output was now about 95,000 bpd.
That indicates a slight decline from last week, when an official had said output was about a third the usual rate. "We have two fields working, Sarir and Misla," Mayuf said, speaking from the oil port of Tobruk by telephone.
Other Agoco fields include Nafoora which, like Sarir and Misla, is in the Sirte basin. It has previously said the Hamada field it operates in west Libya was not operating.
Asked how long it would take for Sarir and Misla to get back to normal production levels, he said: "It all depends on the security situation but it could be about two weeks."
Oil was being pumped to Tobruk in the northeast of Libya by pipeline and was being stored there, but no tankers were in port to ship it out, he said.
When asked who would receive revenues from Agoco sales of oil, he said: "I believe it will be with the (rebel) National Council. We are coming up with new contracts."
He did not give further details.
Agoco officials have previously said they planned to start marketing oil separately from the National Oil Corporation, Agoco's state-owned parent which is based in Tripoli and under Muammar Qaddafi's control.
Agoco was named this week by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control among 14 Libyan companies subject to sanctions but said that should ownership change it may consider authorizing dealings with such entities.
Tobruk, east of Benghazi, is one of two oil ports controlled by rebels. Zueitina, the other one rebels control to the south of Benghazi, was retaken from Qaddafi's forces after Western planes launched air strikes.
Rebels had controlled other oil ports of Brega, Ras Lanuf and Es Sider until Gaddafi's forces launched a land, sea and air offensive earlier this month that drove them out.
An official at the Agoco regional headquarters in Benghazi, Senusi Darrat, said the pipeline to the Ras Lanuf terminal, which is now back in government hands, was not operating.
Agoco, under normal circumstances, pumps oil to Ras Lanuf as well as Tobruk, but said last week that it had stopped pumping oil to Ras Lanuf after Gaddafi's forces took control.
Some of the administration staff at Agoco's Benghazi headquarters were back at work after it was closed for several days due to fighting in the area. Although it was largely deserted on Wednesday, some officials were at their desks.
Armed rebel fighters guarded the gates to protect the compound from possible attacks by Qaddafi loyalists.

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