Libya’s crude oil production rose to about 1.3mn bpd, but if armed clashes persist in the country, most of its output will be at risk, the chairman of the state energy company said.
Fighting among various factions in the country will create a power vacuum which will eventually be filled by extremist groups, including Islamic State militants, according to Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of the National Oil Corp.
“If the situation continues like this, I am afraid that maybe 95% of the production will be lost,” Sanalla told reporters in of Jeddah. Islamic State militants have recently led an attack near the Al-Zella oil field, he said.
Libya’s oil output was 1.26mn bpd in March, Sanalla wrote in a Bloomberg Opinion column earlier this month.
The North African country descended into another round of violence after eastern military strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to capture the capital Tripoli, ignoring a plea by the UN for a ceasefire.
Militias backing the UN-backed government in Tripoli in the west have put up stiff resistance.
A general view of an oil facility in the northern oil rich Libyan town of Al-Buraqah (file). The North African country descended into another round of violence after eastern military strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to capture the capital Tripoli, ignoring a plea by the UN for a ceasefire.