Libya rebels to start oil exports 'in less than a week'

BENGHAZI: Oil fields in rebel-held territory in Libya are producing between 100,000 and 130,000 barrels a day, and the opposition plans to begin exporting oil "in less than a week," a rebel representative said on Sunday.

"We are producing about 100,000 to 130,000 barrels a day, we can easily up that to about 300,000 a day," Ali Tarhoni, the rebel representative responsible for economy, finance and oil, told a news conference. He said the rebel government had agreed an oil contract with Qatar, which would market the crude, and that he expected exports to begin in "less than a week." Tarhoni said he had signed the contract with Qatar recently and that the deal would help ensure "access to liquidity in terms of foreign denominated currency."

"We contacted the oil company of Qatar and they agreed to take all the oil we export and market that oil for us," he said.

"We have an escrow account and the money will be deposited in this account, and this way there is no middle man and we know where the money is going." Tarhoni said the main obstacle to exporting oil would be finding shipping companies, and other rebel representatives have said they are having difficulty finding companies to insure oil  tankers taking exports from rebel-held territory. But he said there was plenty of oil to export, with more potentially becoming available as rebel forces push westwards, recapturing the strategic oil town of Ras Lanuf on Sunday. He said he had been in touch with officials at oil and gas companies in the newly recaptured towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf to ensure that the facilities are protected and to order work there to resume as quickly as possible. Tarhoni said he was confident that the eastern oil facilities could function for now without foreign workers who fled the country amid fighting between rebel forces and troops loyal to veteran leader Moamer Qadhafi. Libya's oil exports, ordinarily about 1.7 million barrels a day, have ground to a halt since the unrest began. While the exports meet only two percent of worldwide demand, Libya produces much prized "sweet," low-sulphur crude, which is easy and cheap to refine into petrol. Since protests began in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in mid-February, crude prices have soared by about $15-$20 a barrel, depending on where it is bought.