TUNIS- Libya is pumping 1.25 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil and hopes to increase production to 1.5 million bpd next year, the head of the state National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Wednesday.
The North African nation, which has been mired in chaos since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, aims to increase oil production to 2.1 million bpd by 2024, Mustafa Sanalla told a conference in Tunis.
However the NOC head said $60 billion of investment would be needed to expand its oil production to 2.1 million bpd and its natural gas production to 3.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd).
Sanalla also said 20 storage tanks at the eastern oil ports of Ras Lanuf and Es-Sider needed to be repaired, at a cost of $400 million. The tanks were damaged last year in fighting between rival factions vying for power.
Since 2014, Libya has been split between rival governing factions based in Tripoli and the east of the country, though the NOC in Tripoli has continued to control oil production, with revenues flowing through the central bank in the capital.
OPEC member Libya's oil production has fluctuated sharply in recent years due to attacks, protests and political conflict, as turmoil has gripped the country following the 2011 uprising.
The NOC has frequently complained that it is not receiving sufficient funding from the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), Libya's internationally recognised government.
In October, the government said it had allocated 1.5 billion Libyan dinars ($1.1 billion) for the NOC to maintain oil production in 2019-2020.
($1 = 1.4000 Libyan dinars)
(Reporting by Angus McDowall in Tunis; Writing by Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by Mark Potter and Pravin Char) ((mahmoud.mourad@thomsonreuters.com;))
