Austrian energy group OMV has said that production in Libya is now close to the level it had been before the uprising that toppled Muammar Ghaddafi.
Total production rose to 305,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 299,000 in the previous quarter, also helped by higher production in New Zealand.
Libya had provided a tenth of OMV's global output in 2010.
CEO Gerhard Roiss (pictured) said in September that it could take up to 18 months for Libyan oil production to return to pre-war levels, report Libya Herald, but since reopening their Tripoli office in November production has recovered rapidly.
In the first quarter of 2012, output reached 25,000 bpd and is now returning to its pre-war rate of 34,000 bpd.
OMV has been in Libya since 1975. It underwent major expansion in 1985 with the acquisition of part of the oil and gas assets of American oil company, Occidental Petroleum, when it was obliged to pull out of Libya.
In 2008, under the new Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement IV (EPSA) with National Oil Corporation, OMV’s contracts in blocks NC115 and NC186 in the Murzuq Basin, were extended until 2032.
The company releases full quarterly results on 8th August.
(Sources: Reuters, Libya Herald)
