Wintershall plans Libyan oil pipeline

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TRIPOLI, Libya, July 23 (UPI) -- German energy company Wintershall announced plans to build a new oil pipeline that would connect two oil fields in Libya.

Wintershall aims to build a 34-mile pipeline that would connect the Nafoora oil field with the Amal oil field. The pipeline has a design capacity of 100,000 barrels per day and has an estimated cost of around $38 million, reports regional business news agency MEED.

The German energy company last month said oil production in Libya has reached 70 percent of the level obtained before the country's civil war began in February 2011.

Wintershall, before the war, was producing around 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

The oil fields in question are operated by a subsidiary of the state-owned National Oil Corp. and a joint venture between the NOC and Petro-Canada.

Construction of the pipeline is slated for August. It could go into service as early as March 2013.

Libya is one of the largest oil-producing countries in Africa. Last year's war shut down oil production, prompting calls for the release of strategic petroleum reserves from members of the International Energy Agency.