Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC) on November 7 said oil production reached 1,036,035 bpd, increasing by nearly 500,000 bpd in just over two weeks after two conflicting parties agreed to a peace deal on October 23. Oil workers managed to increase production despite challenging financial circumstances that the industry is going through, NOC said. However, a source said that the production levels remained to fluctuate after 8-month blockades that slashed the North African country’s production from 1.2 million bpd to as low as 70,000 bpd.
The return of Libyan supplies came amid a difficult time for the oil market, which is grappling with a tepid demand outlook due to the resurging COVID-19 cases in some major global economies. The additional Libyan barrels will present difficult choices for OPEC+ in its upcoming formal meeting on November 30 to December 1.
