Libya's oil output restrained

Investment is needed to boost production capacity

Oil analysts collectively raised their eyebrows in late November when news emerged from Opec that Libya had joined the organisation's production cuts, reversing its much-touted expansion plans. Previously, Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) had hoped to get production to 1.3m barrels a day by the end-2017, with further increases this year. Instead, the meeting's chair, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih, announced that Libya, along with Nigeria, wouldn't raise output. NOC has yet to confirm or deny such a production cut, which would limit output to its current 1m b/d, but nor has it renewed talk of expansion. Until November, NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla had resisted calls to join Opec