Libya’s oil output nears 295,000 barrels a day as exports ramp up

Bloomberg

Libya’s oil output has risen to 295,000 barrels following a truce in the Opec nation’s civil war and the lifting of a blockade on energy facilities.
Fields that feed the newly restarted eastern ports of Hariga, Brega and Zueitina are ramping up production, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Output was 250,000 barrels a day a week ago and will rise further as ships dock and load crude from storage tanks, allowing fields to pump more, the person said.
Libya’s restart is weighing on oil prices just as traders become more bearish about the outlook for energy demand with many nations introducing stricter restrictions to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
Brega is set to export 1.8 million barrels in October via three cargoes, according to a loading program. Zueitina is set to load five cargoes. Hariga has loaded two tankers of one million barrels each in the past two weeks.
The loading programs are preliminary and Libya may export more than the schedule suggests.
The country, home of Africa’s largest oil reserves, pumped around 1.2 million barrels a day at the start of the year, before the blockade shut down most ports and fields.
State energy firm National Oil Corp. is evaluating security at Libya’s four other onshore oil ports — including Zawiya, which handles crude from Sharara, the nation’s biggest field — before restarting them. Armed forces involved in the civil war still occupy or are located near some of them.
Meanwhile, Brent crude falls 6.3% to $39.27 a barrel last week as more countries tightened restrictions to counter pandemic and US President Donald Trump got infected, causing traders to fret about the outlook for energy demand.
While oil at $50 would represent a 25% rise from current prices, it would still be far below the pre-pandemic level of around $65 and less than Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget.
Saudi Arabia would need oil to trade at $66 to balance its budget in 2021, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Saudi Arabia’s caution on prices comes as oil giants including BP Plc and Total SE predict the era of growing global demand for energy is over or coming to an end barely a decade from now.