Reports show that the daily oil production in Libya may have risen to around 500,000 barrels since the country’s biggest oil field, Sharara, was restarted.
The southwestern deposit, Sharara, which has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day is said to be pumping about 110,000 barrels a day. Brent crude fell following the news of Libya’s biggest oilfield restart but later parred some losses. The international benchmark was 0.6% lower late Thursday at $43.06 a barrel.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. predicts that Libyan output could reach as high as 1 million barrels a day by March 2021. According to a tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg, the North African oil-rich country already averaged an export of 385,000 barrels daily in the first two weeks of October after exporting only 213,000 barrels a day throughout September.
Below is a breakdown of production and ports in Libya as highlighted by World Oil:
Arabian Gulf Oil Co., or Agoco, was producing 257,000 barrels a day as of Thursday from its eastern fields.
Sirte Oil Co. which operates fields supplying Brega port, is pumping 76,000 barrels a day.
Fields run by Mellitah Oil Co. are producing 100,000 barrels a day.
El Feel, which is close to Sharara and needs electricity from its bigger neighbour to operate, has not restarted; but the 70,000-barrel-a-day field normally follows Sharara’s shutdowns and is expected to resume soon.
Zawiya port, which handles Sharara’s crude, is set to load 630,000 barrels this month on to the tanker Aegean Nobility, according to an initial loading plan; the exports will be the first from the port since January.
The two eastern oil ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, the country’s largest and third-biggest respectively, are still closed.
Brega is set to export three cargoes next month.