Libya's Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) has increased crude oil production from about 150,000 bpd to 320,000 bpd since Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) took control of some of the country's main oil terminals last month.
Chairman Mohamed Shatwan told Reuters that he plans to reach 350,000 bpd by the end of the year, and has "an ambitious plan" to reach 400,000 bpd, but added that this might take up to two years to achieve.
Damage to AGOCO's fields from militant attacks over the past two years was limited, he said.
Benghazi-based AGOCO, a subsidiary of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), operates five major fields in eastern Libya. According to the report, Bayda remains shut because of a technical problem at Ras Lanuf, and production at Nafoura is limited to 22,000 bpd, about half of its capacity, because maintenance work and parts are needed. A storage tank in Messla field that was damaged in 2011 has remained unrepaired because of the evacuation of foreign workers.
The oil port of Es Sider was badly damaged in fighting, and needs repairs before exports can resume, while exports have continued at a reduced level at Brega, the fourth port now under LNA control.
Hariga terminal in the far east of Libya, which is operated by AGOCO, has kept working relatively smoothly. Shatwan said 56 or 57 tankers had loaded there so far this year, compared to 90 tankers during the whole of 2015.
(Source: Reuters)
