Libyan oil output hit a two-year high of 715,000 b/d on 22 January. But the country’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has run out of patience with the leadership vacuum in the country at a time when the need for economic development is pressing, the organization’s chairman Mustafa Sanalla told MEES on 24 January on the sidelines of the Chatham House Mena Energy conference in London.
“It’s now been six years without a central government, we can’t wait any more,” he says. “We have under-investment, we have damaged terminals and oilfields. We were waiting for new developments, we were waiting for the government, but we’ve waited too long.” NOC is targeting production of 1.25mn b/d by the end of the year and plans to restore pre-conflict output of 1.6mn by 2021, Mr Sanalla tells MEES. In the longer term, the state body is aiming to increase production to 2.1mn b/d, he adds. (CONTINUED - 3298 WORDS)
