German oil firm Wintershall has warned ongoing protests in Libya could continue to disrupt oil exports after admitting it has been unable to get production levels to pre-civil war levels.
The BASF-owned firm currently 85,000 barrels per day, but has been aiming to get that level back to the 100,000 per day achieved before the 2011 civil war.
It operated was the second largest foreign oil firm in Libya before the bloody revolt which saw Muammar Gaddafi removed from power in 2011, and accounted for three-quarters of the company’s output before the 2011 unrest.
Attacks against Libyan oil installations have regularly occurred since the revolt as locals protest over a lack of jobs. Last month saw production at the El Feel field shut down as a precaution due to ongoing industrial action.
“The major limiting factor is that our exports are relying on infrastructures of other operators where we have already had some problems, like strikes,” said Uwe Salge, Wintershall’s general manager in Libya.
“Also there are certain oil field services which are not yet fully available in the country, but they are coming back. I think that these activities could continue for some time because the ideas and programmes that the government wants to implement are taking longer than expected, so people are getting impatient.”