Libya's al-Sedr oil port has resumed operations and will see the first oil shipment sail on Tuesday or earlier, an official from Waha Oil Co said, months after the terminal stopped running during a civil war that ended Muammar Gaddafi's rule.
"The port was damaged by the Gaddafi regime and the facilities are now operational," the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters on Sunday night.
Waha Oil, which manages the port, is owned by Libya's National Oil Corporation in a joint venture with U.S. firms ConocoPhillips, Marathon and Amerada Hess.
"The ship will move tomorrow (Monday) or the day after," the official said.
"The filling of the first shipment started today (Sunday). This is very important given the limited capabilities. Export out of al-Sedr Oil Terminal will resume and will be according to demand."
The official said a 600,000-barrel tanker would leave Ras Lanuf's al-Sedr port for a European country, without identifying it.
Interim Oil Minister Abdulrahman Ben Yazza said last month that Libya's oil output had hit 1 million barrels per day (bpd). Ben Yazza also said production would reach 1.3 million bpd by the first quarter and 1.5 million bpd by the second half of 2012.
The country, formerly Africa's third-largest producer, yielded about 1.6 million bpd before the civil war led to a virtual shutdown in supplies, according to industry estimates.
(Source: Reuters)
