VIENNA: Libya is aiming for an oil output target of 800,000-900,000 barrels per day if output is restored soon, its Oil Minister Omar Shakmak said ahead of an OPEC meeting on Wednesday.
Shakmak said this week protests and stoppages in its oil sector had cut Libyan oil output to under 200,000 bpd.
"It's out of our control what's happening," he said of unrest in Libya. "It's out of the control of the oil and gas sector. We are ready and prepared to resume production."
Libya's oil output capacity was still over 1.5 million bpd, he added. "We still have plans to reach 2 million."
If order was restored Shakmak said: "We could easily go to over 700 thousand in a couple of months. Maybe we could reach 800."
Output of 1.4 million bpd would then be achievable in around six to nine months he said.
He acknowledged the anomaly of Libya attending the oil exporters meeting when its own exports were minimal.
"We are still an oil producing country and we're still an active member of OPEC," Shakmak added.
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