Libyan oil output exceeds 1 MMbpd for first time in four years

Ahmad Ghaddar June 30, 2017

LONDON (Reuters) - Libya's oil production has risen to 1.012 MMbopd, a Libyan oil industry source told Reuters on Friday, topping 1 MMbpd for the first time in four years.

State-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) had targeted reaching 1 MMbpd by the end of July.

Output has been helped by an interim deal with Germany's Wintershall to resume production amid a contract dispute.

On Thursday, the same source said production had been fluctuating between 950,000 bpd and close to 1 MMbpd due to technical and power generation problems.

He expected production to stabilize at the higher end of that range "very soon".

Libya's oil sector has been dogged by unrest since the overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

A power struggle involving various tribal, military and political factions has since affecting oil infrastructure through port blockades and pipeline shutdowns.

Libya, along with Nigeria, is exempt from a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers to curb output by around 1.8 MMbpd.