2018-10-27
 
Libya's oil and gas revenue fell 455 million dollars to 1.57 billion dollars in August from a month earlier, the National Oil Corporation said on Friday.
 
The company attributed the decline to the announcement of force majeure in the Crescent oil region after the fighting closed the ports of Sidr and Ras Lanuf oil export in June.
 
The company said production was also affected by security challenges in the Sharara field, which gunmen attacked in July and kidnapped two workers.
 
The company said September's revenue would return to "normal levels after the start of immediate spot sales and achieve target production levels" without providing a revenue figure.
 
The head of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sannallah, told Reuters on Wednesday that his country was producing up to 1.3 million bpd of crude.
 
According to Reuters estimates, current production levels remain below the production levels of the OPEC member country before the civil war, which was about 1.6 million barrels per day. But production is at its highest level since mid-2013.
 
Production has been stalled from time to time since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi because of protests and closures imposed by armed groups or workers, as well as the outbreak of violence.