Libya aims to maintain oil output after elections delay

By ADEL OMRAN
Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The head of Libya’s national oil company has said that his country will try to keep oil production at 1.2 million barrels a day in 2022, but that the company is dealing with serious budget shortfalls. Libya’s top oil body, along with the rest of the country, now faces significant uncertainty after long-awaited presidential elections were delayed last month. OPEC members, including Libya, have agreed as a group to raise production levels after they were cut earlier in the pandemic. Libya produced three times the amount of oil in 2021 compared with 2020 after a U.N.-brokered ceasefire and transitional government brought some stability after years of civil war.