The El Sharara oilfield
TRIPOLI, July 24 (NNN-Xinhua) — The state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya said that it plans to increase the daily oil production to 1.2 million barrels.
“The NOC is striving to increase production and bring it back to its normal rates of 1.2 million barrels per day in two weeks,” NOC said in a statement.
NOC also said that the current daily oil production has increased from 560,000 to 860,000 barrels.
“The NOC and its companies achieved a relative increase in oil production, with current production reaching 860,000 barrels per day, while the pre-reopening production rate was 560,000 barrels per day,” the statement said.
NOC recently announced the reopening of the country’s oil fields and ports after nearly 3 months of closure by protesters.
In mid-April, many oil fields and ports in Libya were shut down by local protesters who demanded Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah hand over power to the government appointed by the parliament in March.
Oil and gas constitute a major source of Libya’s revenue. However, the sector has suffered from armed conflicts and closures of oil fields and ports over the past years.
Meanwhile, the death toll from clashes between two rival armed groups in the Libyan capital Tripoli has increased to 16, and the injuries to 52, the Libyan Ministry of Health said.
“All the wounded are receiving medical care inside public and private hospitals in Tripoli,” the ministry said on its Facebook page.
Clashes erupted between two rival armed groups in different parts of Tripoli late Thursday and lasted until early Friday.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Friday expressed concern about the clashes, and called on all Libyans to do everything possible to preserve the country’s “fragile stability at this sensitive time.”
Libya has been suffering violence and unrest ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011. — NNN-XINHUA
