Libyan oil production making gains

Libyan oil production is expected to reach levels not seen since the onset of international hostilities in March, a state-owned oil company declared. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, during their December regular meeting in Vienna, said they agreed to maintain a balanced market that makes room for Libyan oil production. Analysts had expected it to take at least a year before oil production returned to pre-war levels in the country. The Libyan oil minister said during the OPEC meeting that production could reach 2 million barrels per day within five years. State-owned National Oil Corp. announced that its Arabian Gulf Oil Co. subsidiary would reach the pre-war level of 400,000 bpd by the end of January, reports Emirati news agency The National. Libya, before the international military intervention in March, was producing close to 1.6 million barrels of oil per day, of which 1.3 million bpd was exported. The International Energy Agency, in its latest oil market report, said crude oil production in Libya rose from around 75,000 bpd in September to around 500,000 bpd in November. The IEA said it expected Libyan oil production to reach 800,000 bpd by the first quarter of 2012 and 1.17 million bpd by the end of next year. Companies involved in Libyan oil production closed facilities at the height of the conflict.