Libya to Increase Oil Production to 1.2 Million Bpd in Two Weeks

Fighters loyal to Libya's Tripoli-based government stand guard outside the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Corporation in the capital Tripoli on July 14, 2022. (AFP)
Fighters loyal to Libya's Tripoli-based government stand guard outside the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Corporation in the capital Tripoli on July 14, 2022. (AFP)
TT

Libya to Increase Oil Production to 1.2 Million Bpd in Two Weeks

Fighters loyal to Libya's Tripoli-based government stand guard outside the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Corporation in the capital Tripoli on July 14, 2022. (AFP)
Fighters loyal to Libya's Tripoli-based government stand guard outside the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Corporation in the capital Tripoli on July 14, 2022. (AFP)

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) aims to bring back production to 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in two weeks, NOC said in a statement early on Saturday.

Current oil production is at 860,000 bpd, compared with 560,000 bpd before resuming production, NOC added.

Libya's crude production had resumed at several oilfields, after lifting force majeure on oil exports last week.

A blockade of oil output by groups aligned with eastern forces had cut off funding to the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah.

But last week Dbeibah appointed a new state oil company chief, leading to a swift end of the blockade.

"NOC is striving to increase production and bring it back to its normal rates of 1.2 million barrels per day in two weeks," according to the statement.

The Libyan oil ministry had said earlier that production is at more than 800,000 (bpd) and will reach 1.2 million bpd by next month.

The country's oil exports at times last year reached 1.2 million bpd.



Bitcoin Drops to 11-day Low amid Tech Selloff

FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
TT

Bitcoin Drops to 11-day Low amid Tech Selloff

FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Bitcoin fell below $100,000 on Monday, hitting its lowest in 11 days, in a move analysts attributed to a wave of caution after the surging popularity of a Chinese artificial intelligence model sparked a selloff in Western AI-related stocks.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency struggled to make gains last week, as a rally that had seen it break above $100,000 after US President Donald Trump's election ran out of steam, Reuters reported.

At 1156 GMT, bitcoin was at $98,852.17, down around 6% on the day, having fallen sharply in early trading to hit its lowest since Jan. 16.

Technology stocks plunged, as traders worried that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek could threaten Western companies' dominance of the sector, in a move some called AI's "Sputnik moment", referring to the former Soviet Union's launch of a satellite that marked the start of the space race in the late 1950s.

Bitcoin's losses are "seemingly driven by some risk-off sentiment circulating the markets currently due to DeepSeek," wrote eToro analyst Simon Peters.

Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, said a decline in Nasdaq futures had hurt crypto markets, but that disappointment over the Trump administration's announcement about a cryptocurrency stockpile had put digital assets more at risk of a sharp selloff.

Crypto failed to feature in Trump's day-one announcements after taking office last week, leaving some investors disappointed. In an executive order on Thursday, Trump created a working group to draft new crypto rules and explore a crypto stockpile, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spiked accounting guidance that the industry said had stymied crypto adoption.

The prospect of interest rates staying higher for longer also hurt riskier assets, said Thomas Puech, CEO of digital asset hedge fund Indigo.

US Federal Reserve policymakers meet this week and are expected to keep interest rates on hold.