Tripoli, 23 April:
Libyan oil production has reached 1.5 million barrels a day (b/d) and should hit the pre-revolution figure of 1.6 . . .[restrict]million b/d by mid-year according to Oil Minister Abdul-Rahman Ben Yazza. He was speaking at the opening of the 4th Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition today, Monday, at the downtown Tripoli International Fair ground.
The two-day conference and four-day exhibition is the first major commercial Libyan showcase event since the revolution and has drawn a massed brigade of foreign companies who were busy networking with new Libyan business faces and hopeful for contacts in the new Libya.
Confirming that the country will be looking to hand out new contracts, Ben Yazza told the conference that Libya would both upgrade and expand its oil and gas production facilities. There would be an increased, “extensive” exploration programme, he said. Major investment would also be put into developing Libyan human resources in the industry.
The country also intended to ensure transparency in the oil industry’s dealings.
NOC chairman Nuri Buruwin told the conference that gas production would continue to rise in the next three years, reaching a peak in 2015.
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