Oil and Gas minister: Increasing crude production depends on parliament agreeing on a spending plan

Libya is seeking to boost its oil production from 1.3 million barrels per day to 1.5 million by the end of this year, says Minister of Oil and Gas Mohamed Oun.

The Oil and Gas minister indicated in an interview with Bloomberg published Monday that this would depend on the parliament’s approval of the budget amendments for the year 2021, which, according to him, had politicians at odds for at least four months.

“If the budget is not approved, there will be an impact and perhaps great difficulties in maintaining oil production rates,” Oun said.

The oil ministry has requested 7 billion dinars ($1.5 billion) for projects to develop the oil sector, but only 3 billion dinars have been earmarked in the draft budget, according to Oun, who underscored that the National Oil Corporation has long complained it needs more money to fix Libya’s aging infrastructure.

He confirmed that Libya is studying offers by foreign companies to invest in refining-related projects without naming them.