In the first of a series of exclusive reports from Benghazi, the capital of rebel-held east Libya, Petroleum Economist’s Derek Brower reports on TNC plans to resume oil production from desert fields – giving the insurgents a much-needed source of cash
OIL production from the key, rebel-held Sarir and Misla oilfields in eastern Libya could be on stream again within weeks, senior sources in the Transitional National Council (TNC) claimed. The export pipeline connecting the fields to Tobruk has not been damaged, they added.
The oilfields, which produced around 300,000 barrels a day (b/d) before the rebellion began on 17 February, were shut in after forces loyal to Muammar Qadhafi shelled surface facilities above Misla on 4 April.
An advisor to Arabian Gulf Oil (Agoco), which operates the fields, told Petroleum Economist in an interview in Benghazi that a team of specialists was dispatched to the facilities on 14 April...