Oil production has recovered considerably over the past week, with rates now reported to be in excess of 600,000 barrels per day, well above the 100,000 bpd rate to which it had fallen a couple of weeks ago, but less than half of the 1.3 million barrels that it hit in June.
Before the revolution, Libya was producing 1.6 million bpd, and according to a senior executive at Repsol, it could get to two million bpd with a little investment.
That investment, of course, depends on confidence, and that confidence has been one of the main victims of the strikes and unrest; Exxon Mobil, for example, has announced that it is reducing its staff in Libya due to security concerns.
But in a timely visit to Libya, the Chief Executive of United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) Nick Baird pointed out that Libya "has huge potential, resources and entrepreneurial people". It's good to be reminded of that fact.
