Libya resumes oil exports, first tanker at Ras Lanuf since 2014

According to media sources, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Thursday that it was lifting some of its force majeure declarations and resuming oil exports from some of its main ports. Turmoil since 2011 has led the country to produce only a fraction of its previous 1.6 million barrels of oil per day.

NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla was quoted as saying, "Exports will resume immediately from Zueitina and Ras Lanuf, and will continue at Brega ... exports will resume from Es Sider as soon as possible. NOC is in charge of the ports. They are secure, and we have been in contact with our foreign commercial partners."

A port official at Ras Lanuf said a tanker had docked to load crude on Thursday, the first to do so since at least 2014, and that a second tanker had docked at Brega, which has remained open.
Sanalla was also quoted as saying that Libya could raise output to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) within a month and to 950,000 by the end of the year from about 290,000 currently if the NOC finds the funds necessary and if blocked pipelines in the southwest are reopened.

On Thursday, production also resumed at the Nafoura oilfield which was shut in November 2015, an oil official said. The field previously produced 25,000-30,000 bpd.