MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Gazprom EP International has resumed crude oil production in Libya under a JV agreement with Wintershall Dea, Managing Director Sergey Tumanov said in an interview with Gazprom’s in-house magazine, adding that output at the project is expected to rise from the current 43,000 barrels per day to 62,000 barrels per day in 2021.

"In the fall of 2020, after nine months of suspension due to the force majeure declared on Libyan territory, oil production within the framework of our Libyan asset was successfully resumed. Ports, export terminals, and production facilities started to gradually resume their operations in the country. At the same time, we completed an important stage of the works in Libya under our joint venture with Wintershall Dea, Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft (WIAG), as we transferred the functions of the operator of development of fields in the Sirte Basin in Blocks 91 and 107 to a newly established joint venture with the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), Sarir Oil Operations B.V. (SOO) company," he explained.

It is planned to undertake a number of measures on efficiency increase and recovery of production infrastructure in order to implement plans on oil production growth in Libya, Tumanov added.

Gazprom EP International holds 49% in the joint venture with Wintershall Dea, Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft (WIAG). The JV has been the operator of Blocks 91 and 107 on the Libyan territory since 1966. Activities within these blocks resulted in discovery by the company of nine oilfields, which were further brought onstream. The As Sarah field located within contract block 91 is the largest of them.