(Ecofin Agency) - Libya has witnessed an extraordinary increase in oil production reaching 670 thousand barrels per day, according to the head of the media office of the Libyan Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mohammed Al-Maghribi.

“That is all because the NOC has resumed work in some previously-shut oilfields,” he said.

The country’s oil production has been gradually increasing, following the reopening of key terminals and oilfields as well as the resumption of exportation. An official at the NOC, Ibrahim Al-Uwami, said that Libya’s oil output is steadily rising and is expected to reach 1.5 million bpd once the necessary budget for refurbishment procedures in the oilfields and terminals is provided for the NOC.

“That would skyrocket our oil production in no time, coupled with reopening Al-Sharara and Al-Feel oilfields in the south,” Al-Uwami explained.

Since 2013, Libyan oil production has been nearly shut down as a result of lack of security, strikes at the oil ports as well as other political reasons, Libya Observer reports.

The North African country is targeting a total production of 900,000 bpd by the end of this year.

Anita Fatunji