Libya Continues To Boost Production As OPEC Nears Freeze Deal

Libya-based Waha Oil Co reached a production rate of 75,000 barrels per day and expects output to increase in the coming weeks, according to recent reporting by Reuters.

The oil company plans to bring the Jalu oilfield online soon, which will be the firm’s third revived field after Waha and Samah. The National Oil Corporation owns Waha as a joint venture subsidiary with ConocoPhillips, Marathon and Hess Corp.

Output from Waha resumed last month when several previously blockaded ports opened for business. The field contributes to the Es Sider port, which has been damaged due to fighting from the North African country’s four-year civil war and its terrorist insurgencies.

Once the Es Sider port completes its renovations and a new pipeline from the Jalu field begins work, oil production will increase further, Waha said, without adding a specific timeline for the construction.

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Waha produces between 100,000-120,000 bpd, while Samah produces 7,000 bpd.

Libya almost doubled production from September to October of this year as the country begins its recovery from years of domestic strife. After the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, regional governments and the Islamic State (ISIS) have competed in a power vacuum for control over the country’s oil resources.

In the meantime, an oil market oversupply has made it difficult for Libya to profit off of newly sold oil, prompting nationalized companies to increase output for more revenue.

Libya's National Oil Corporation, NOC, is pushing hard to reach its previously set goal of 900,000 bpd before the end of the year.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Libya is a member, has committed to exempting Tripoli from the terms of a coming bloc-wide production freeze that seeks to reestablish the supply-side fundamentals of the global oil market. The final details of the deal will be announced at the end of this month, after OPEC’s official meeting in Vienna.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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