Libya needs to boost oil output by almost 40% of its current level in order to cover its spending needs and begin revamping an economy battered by a decade of war, the OPEC nation’s central bank governor said.
With oil as Libya’s nearly sole source of income, “it is of course imperative that production rates in 2022 have to go higher,” Sadiq Al-Kabir said in an interview in the capital, Tripoli. The nation, which sits atop Africa’s largest proven crude reserves, is currently pumping 1.3 million barrels per day. Al-Kabir says daily output needs to climb to a daily 1.8 million barrels next year.
Such an increase would lift Libyan production to its highest since the reign of longtime leader Moammar Qaddafi, whose overthrow in a 2011 uprising triggered years of conflict. But the North African nation’s ability to do so is in question. The country is struggling with an aging infrastructure and cash problems further compounded by political tensions.
Those issues, along with a long-delayed budget, could imperil a target set by oil officials to reach 1.6 million barrels per day by the end of 2021.
Upping production to 1.8 million barrels a day from its current level would ensure revenue of $35 billion next year if oil averages $60 per barrel, keeping Libya “on the safe side” and able to cover spending and reconstruction plans, he said.
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