Libya's crude production has rallied to 700,000 b/d, a spokesman for state-owned National Oil Corp said Monday, its highest level since June last year when the most recent crisis to hit the country's oil sector first began.
The increase comes, however, as Libya faces arguably its biggest political challenge since the killing of former leader Moammar Qadhafi in 2011 with its outgoing government forced to take refuge in the east of the country after armed militias took control of government offices in Tripoli.
"Libyan oil production is 700,000 b/d," the NOC spokesman said on Monday.
Libyan production has been steadily ramping up in the past month after exports finally resumed from the eastern ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf in August after one year of rebel occupation.
The North African country's oil sector seems to be on the road to recovery now that all the export terminals are back under state control and operational, while protests that have hampered production at fields across the country have mostly ended.
Several key producers are waiting for approval from NOC to restart more production, including Germany's Wintershall, which said in late August it was ready to resume production at its onshore fields.
Wintershall operates the C96 and C97 blocks in the Sirte basin in southeastern Libya, and can produce up to 100,000 b/d.
The blocks have been shut in since August last year when anti-government protesters blockaded the key export terminals.
Total Libyan production was last this high in June 2013 before protests closed a number of key fields.
SUSTAINED PRODUCTION?
Despite the current rally in output, analysts are still concerned about a sustained recovery in oil production given the fragile political situation in the country.
On Monday, Libya's outgoing government admitted it had lost control of government offices in the capital to armed militias.
The interim government led by prime minister Abdullah al-Thani, which resigned last week and has taken refuge in the east of the country, said armed groups were preventing government workers from entering their offices, AFP reported.
Analysts believe the current situation in Libya is particularly odd -- a recovery in oil output as the country teeters on the verge of civil war.
"If Libya continues on its current trajectory, it will find itself in a very strange situation indeed," Geoff Porter, analyst at North Africa Risk Consulting (Narco), said.
"Political stability is decreasing but oil production is increasing. An odd circle to square," Porter said.
But he did say that the country was more likely to sustain its oil output now than when the protests were more localized.
"The disruption of Libya's oil production over the last 18 months was driven primarily by local grievances -- communities staged sit-ins, blockaded or otherwise interfered with sector activity in order to compel the [government] to address their complaints, often about jobs and money," he said.
"Such disruptions are unlikely to be repeated."
But, he added, whether the increase in production and exports will last depends on the relative strengths and weaknesses of Libya's warring factions.
POLITICAL CHAOS
Libya has been sliding into chaos since Moammar Qadhafi was overthrown and killed three years ago, with the interim authorities confronting powerful militias which fought to oust the veteran dictator.
The interim government announced last week it had tendered its resignation to the elected parliament, days after a rival Islamist administration was created.
A rival body, the General National Congress, last week named pro-Islamist figure Omar al-Hassi to form a "salvation government".
Interim authorities have been steadily losing ground to the militias and the Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) mainly Islamist alliance, which has seized Tripoli airport after weeks of fierce fighting with nationalist rivals.
On Sunday, Islamist militiamen moved into the US embassy compound in Tripoli that was evacuated in late July, with videos showing cheering men diving from an upstairs balcony into the facility's swimming pool, AFP reported.
