São Paulo – Libya, an Arab country in North Africa, hopes to produce 1.7 million barrels of oil a day by the end of this year, according to news published on African news agency Panapress. The statement was made by the current minister of oil, Abdulbari Al-Arusi, during a visit to oil zones in the East of the country. Currently, Libya produces 1.4 million barrels of oil a day.
The government of Libya recently announced the discovery of oil and gas fields in the areas surrounding Ghadames, south of Tripoli, which should strengthen production. The fields were discovered by a consortium established by the Algerian Sonatrach and the Indian Opel and has estimated capacity of 500,000 cubic metres of gas and 2,188 barrels of oil a day. This was the first oil discovery made at the site by the consortium, where prospection has been taking place since 2008.
Libya has estimated oil reserves of 47 billion barrels. The country has been working to increase production since it lived the social protests that resulted in the ousting of dictator Muammar Kadafi. At the time, the Arab country produced around 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, according to figures disclosed by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Last year, Libya exported 485 million barrels of crude oil, according to information disclosed by the National Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-owned oil company. The main buyers of Libyan oil were Italy, China, France, Spain, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal, the United States, India, Austria and Turkey. Local consumption was 52.6 million barrels.
*Translated by Mark Ament
