Production at Repsol YPF SA's Libya joint venture has reached 210,000 barrels a day, a local manager said Sunday, already surpassing the Spanish company's target for next year.
The accelerated ramp up at Akakus Oil Operations is the latest evidence that Libya's production is returning faster than expected following the toppling of Moammar Gadhafi.
In an e-mail to Dow Jones Newswires Sunday, Najeeb Tantoush, the manager in charge of operations at the giant Sharara field, said: "Sharara production as of today [is] 210,000 barrels" a day.
Sharara, the largest Libyan oil field with a foreign partner with a production of 340,000 barrels a day before the war, resumed operations last month.
Repsol couldn't be reached, but earlier this week reiterated Nov. 10 remarks by chief financial officer Miguel Martinez, who said gross production from its Libyan operation was 100,000 barrels a day at the time and is estimated to average 170,000 barrels a day in 2012.
(Source: MarketWatch, Dow Jones)