Libyan daily oil production tops 1 million barrels

The state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) of the UN-backed Libyan government said Saturday that the country's daily oil production has exceeded 1 million barrels."The NOC announces that it managed to raise production rates to 1,036,035 barrels a day," the NOC said in a statement.However, the NOC said that it may not be able to sustain the current production levels and these levels may be reduced or totally ceased "under the reluctance of some entities and their hindering of NOC's efforts to increase production and restore the prosperity of the national economy."The NOC faces significant financial difficulties, which led to accumulating debts on the sector's companies and significant delay for the salaries of its service companies, it said.The NOC has recently lifted the state of force majeure on the country's oilfields and ports and resumed oil production and exports.Demanding a fair distribution of the oil revenues, the east-based army has since January been blocking oil production and exports, Libya's main source of income.The oil blockade brought down daily crude oil production from more than 1.2 million barrels to just around 100,000.