Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC) reopened Zueitina port in the eastern part of the country as part of its efforts to resume oil output as Zueitina is now being viewed as a secure port.
Just a few days prior, NOC reopened the Hariga and Brega terminals as it announced the end of force-majeure in oil output. The three ports had been shut down since January as part of a wider blockade.
Meanwhile, Es Sider, Zawiya, and Ras Lanuf oil ports remain closed.
The company also said that the nationwide output will more than double by next week to 260,000 bpd. Production will increase as workers return to fields that feed Brega and Hariga, and oil tankers will start arriving at both ports to load crude, explain the NOC.
Other than that, the amount of extra oil Libya can export will also depend on how quickly it can fix wellheads, pipelines and storage tanks that have been neglected or damaged during the conflict.
Looking ahead, some analysts gave different predictions on the country’s exports.
Analysts of OilX analyzed that the country is not necessarily ready to increase oil exports before production at oil fields resumed as only Hariga and Zueitina are much more than 50% full. Normally, crude storage tanks at Libyan export terminals can hold 24.4 million barrels.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecast that by the end of 2020, exports could hit 550,000 bpd. Bloomberg Intelligence estimated a figure around 1 million bpd.
Analyst Mohammad Darwazah of Medley Global Advisors opined that if only the implementation of the agreement is successful, output could rise to 500,000 bpd within just a month. But he added that any further additions will hinge on how quickly Sharara can restart and ramp up, and whether the NOC agrees to reopen Es Sider and Ras Lanuf.
Previously in January, commander Khalifa Haftar blockaded energy facilities in the country in a conflict. Libya’s oil crude output slumped in return, to less than 100,000 bpd from 1.2 million bpd last year.
