Germany's Wintershall Holding GMBH has restarted oil production in the Libyan desert in concessions 96 and 97, which it operates together with Russia's state owned natural gas company Gazprom, Wintershall Holding GMBH said in a statement.
Wintershall Holding GMBH is Germany's largest producer of crude oil and natural gas.
Wintershall Holding GMBH holds licenses in eight onshore oil fields in concessions 96 und 97 in the Libyan desert about 660 miles south-east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, which the company shut down in February for security reasons after the start of the unrest that eventually drove Colonel Muammar Gadaffi from power. Before the suspension, Wintershall Holding GMBH had produced around 100,000 barrels of oil a day in Libya. Production has now been started up again as agreed with the Libyan National Oil Corp.
Wintershall Holding GMBH also holds a share in the offshore oil field Al Jurf (Block C 137) off Libya's Mediterranean coast and has been involved in crude oil exploration and production in Libya since 1958.
Holding GMBH Chairman Dr. Rainer Seele said, "We reached a production level of about 20,000 barrels per day shortly after beginning operations. Now we have to technically stabilize the production."
By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More