Libya's oil, gas sector generating cash

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TRIPOLI, Libya, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Nearly a year after the regime of Moammar Gadhafi ended, a Libyan oil company said it expected to realize nearly $55 billion from oil and gas this year.

The state-run National Oil Corp. said it expected to make around $54.9 billion in revenue this year from exports and taxes on oil companies operating in the country, reports Bloomberg News.

Libyan oil production by August 2011 was halted by war. NATO forces last year enforced a no-fly zone over the country in response to assaults on civilians by the Gadhafi regime.

The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, in its monthly review for July, reported that production by December 2011 rebounded to 800 million bpd. The report said that by April 2012, Libya oil production was at 1.4 million bpd.

Libya oil production peaked in 1973 at 2.2 million bpd before settling at 1.6 bpd by 2009.

The country's Arabian Gulf Oil Co., a subsidiary of NOC, announced it discovered oil and natural gas in an onshore basin located about 90 miles southwest of Tripoli, Bloomberg adds. The find of undisclosed volume was reported during the drilling of an exploration well to a depth of 10,300 feet.