Libya Says Oil Output to Hit 1 Million Bpd

Production from a Libyan oil field will restart within days and the country should be able to pump 1 million barrels per day (bpd) within a year, the interim oil and finance minister said.

In an interview with Reuters, Ali Tarhouni said he had received a phone call the previous evening saying the huge El Sharara oil field operated by Spanish firm Repsol was ready to restart and he expected it to resume pumping within days. It produces 200,000 bpd.

"Within less than a year we will be up to 1 million barrels. I am very confident of that," Tarhouni said. Libya is struggling to resume oil production, which forms the overwhelming bulk of its economy but was largely halted for the past eight months by its civil war. The country produced about 1.8 million bpd during peace time. The oil minister said current production was at 400,000 bpd and the rapid recovery was owed to the bravery and skill of Libyan workers, some of whom had given their lives to protect and repair the oil fields. "We have a lot of patriots," the minister said.