Libya aims to restart its 220,000-barrel-per-day Ras Lanuf oil refinery within six to 12 months to supply the domestic market, National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Masoud Suleman told reporters in London on Wednesday.
The Ras Lanuf oil refinery, Libya’s largest, has been idle since 2013 amid an arbitration dispute between NOC and its Emirati partner in the plant Trasta.
NOC said on Monday it had signed a final agreement with Trasta to end the partnership, transferring the Ras Lanuf complex and refinery to full Libyan ownership and control.
“The budget was allocated,” Suleman said regarding the restart, adding NOC had the manpower and equipment needed for maintenance, which he expects will cost about $60 million.
Libya’s oil sector, the country’s main source of income, has faced repeated disruption from local and wider political unrest since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
Last week, the 120,000 bpd Zawiya refinery shut due to nearby clashes.
Suleman said output from Ras Lanuf oil refinery would mainly serve the domestic market and be marketed by NOC subsidiary Brega Oil Company.
NOC expects initial run rates of about 200,000 bpd, gradually ramping up to full capacity, he added. The refinery will run on Libya’s Amna crude grade.