Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 6 / Trend A.Badalova/
Libyan Oil Ministry and the state National Oil Corporation (NOC) are working on crisis scenarios as oil output in the country remains slumped at 240,000 barrels per day (bpd), International Oil Daily (IOD) reported with the reference to deputy oil minister Omar Shakmak and NOC Chairman Nuri Berruien.
In August Libyan oil production decreased to 650,000 bpd compared to 1.1 million bpd in June and 1.34 million bpd in May.
Shakmak told IOD that there are two crisis scenarios, they are working on. One is for the month of September and the other if the stoppage continues until the end of the year.
"We are working out what the full deficit in production is for September. Next week we will hold a meeting to examine what the actual production level across all fields is, what we are exporting and prepare full estimates for September," Shakmak.
IOD mentioned that Libyan key oil fields including Elephant (130,000 bpd) and Bu Attifel (70,000 bpd), operated by Italian Eni, remain shut in, as does Spanish Repsol's El Sharara field, which was producing 342,000 bpd before the most recent closure. Production from fields controlled by state Arabian Gulf Oil Co. has been reduced to 60,000 bpd.
Asked about precautions taken to protect oil wells, Berruien told IOD that "we are not concerned about that - the pumps can maintain the pressure - within a week we could be back up to 1.2-1.3 million bpd.
Berruien also expressed the hope that fields shutdowns will last less than a month.
Libya is the eighth largest producer of oil among the 12 member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and third in Africa after Nigeria and Angola.
Libya's proven oil reserves total 45 billion barrels. Libya was producing 1.5 million barrels of oil per day prior to the revolution. Oil exports restarted in 2012.