Waha Oil Production Should Hit Pre-War Level by End January

A day after Libya's Waha Oil Co firm exported its first shipment of 600,000 barrels of oil to Italy, the company's manager, Ahmed Amar said, that by the end of January, Libya's Waha Oil Co will reach pre-war oil production levels of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd).Al-Sedr oil port, about 600 km east of Tripoli. managed by Waha Oil, resumed operations this week, enabling the company to restart exports months after the terminal stopped running during the conflict that ousted Muammar Gaddafi from power.Ahmed Amar, told Reuters that the opening the Al-Sedr would allow Waha to return to production levels of 350,000 barrels per day by the end of this month.

He went on to say that prior to this week's cargo, the last shipment of oil yo leave Sedr Port was on March 3, 2011, for Italy.

One of the terminal's 19 oil storage tanks was destroyed during the war and another partly damaged. The port's pipeline too had been damaged, he said, adding that the company was able to complete repairs in less than two months.

Waha Oil is owned by Libya's National Oil Corporation in a joint venture with US firms ConocoPhillips, Marathon and Amerada Hess.

Amar said that between January 4 and 6, the port is now able to export about 630,000 barrels of crude oil to France.

The company's deputy manager, Mohammed al-Fetouri, said a committee was working on estimating the company's losses that are estimated in the millions of dollars. They will be specified in a report by the national oil company,he added.

(Source: Tripoli Post)