When it comes to Libya’s oil production targets, the sounds from the state-owned, Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation (NOC) are consistently optimistic. In January, the company’s chairman, Mustafa Sanalla, announced that output of 1.25mn b/d by the end of the year was realistic (MEES, 27 January).
What has surprised many is that this optimism has not been entirely misplaced. The performance of Libya’s oil sector since late 2014 did not give much reason for hope. Prior to 2017, the last time that oil output had exceeded 600,000 b/d was in the first half of April 2015; the last time that it averaged more than 600,000 b/d over the course of a month was in November 2014. (CONTINUED - 1847 WORDS)
