Libya continues to be excluded from reducing production rates

The head of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanalla took part in the 13th meeting of OPEC alliance and expressed his support for Libya’s continued exclusion from production reductions most countries are undergoing due to COVID-19 effect on oil markets worldwide.

The virtual meeting also assessed oil markets in terms of supply, demand and stock level, reviewing the compliance of the members in the declaration of compliance with the agreed-upon production rates and collectively decided to keep current rates for most members until the end of March 2021.

It was also decided that due to the shrinking demand on oil in the global market because of the still rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, Saudia Arabia will reduce its daily production rates by an additional one million barrels per day in February and March to stabilize the market.

The next ministerial meeting of the OPEC members was determined to be held at the beginning of March 2021.

Libya’s oil market remarkably bounced back to 1.1 million barrels per day from in just months production was brought to a near screeching halt for the majority of 2020 due to the blockade on oil institutions imposed by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar.

It is worth noting that oil is Libya’s primary source of income and OPEC’s decision to exclude it from production cuts is due to the country’s deteriorating economic state and unstable conditions since the February 17 Revolution in 2011.