TRIPOLI, Libya, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Significant oil and natural gas discoveries are waiting to be developed in Libya though no new bidding rounds are expected soon, an executive said from Tripoli.
The Libyan oil sector has rebounded since last year's civil war and is producing around 1.6 million barrels per day, its pre-war level. Nuri Burrein, chairman of Libya's National Oil Co., said he expects output to increase by as much as 40,000 bpd by next year, the Platts news service reports.
He told an energy conference in Tripoli that production at some fields was lowered while pipeline repairs and construction get under way. His company teamed with German energy company Wintershall to build a pipeline to move oil from eastern Libya.
Libya last had a bidding round for oil and natural gas exploration in 2007, when seven contracts were offered mainly for natural gas. He said there were "significant" natural resources in the country that have yet to be developed but said there wouldn't be another auction "until a proper government is in place."
The International Crisis Group, in a 49-page report published mid-September, said it didn't consider Libya a fully functioning state nearly a year after longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi died after falling into rebel hands.
