Libyas oil exports are expected to reach almost 350,000 bpd on average during November, according to expectations by the National Oil Corporation (NOC).
NOC is expecting to sell 14 cargoes from mainly eastern oilfields, with subsidiary Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) expected to market two more cargoes independently before handing over marketing activities to NOC by mid-November, according to a Reuters report.
The recent successful start of production from the El-Sharara field in the south-west of the country and other fields in the west and south-west will, however, not hit international markets yet, as all production onstream so far and the expected increments for the rest of the year will be directed to the western 120,000-bpd Zawiya refinery to help relieve domestic fuel shortages and lower product imports.
The NOC has also said it hopes to restart Libya's largest refinery in Ras Lanuf before the end of the year, with sources within NOC telling Reuters that this was an "over-cautious" estimate.
According to the report, NOC's marketing will include crude from the al-Jurf, Abu Attifel, Amna, Sirtica, and Zueitina oilfields during November, while AGOCO will continue to market Sarir crude until the handover of marketing responsibilities.
IHS Senior Middle East Energy analyst Samuel Ciszuk's stated: “Libya's oil recovery has so far surpassed expectations since the rebels' mid-August definitive roll-back of the old regime's forces from most of the country, but with the return of production from most fields now achieved, the country enters a new phase with new challenges.”
