Anti-Gaddafi forces have not yet cracked the Libyan dictator’s stronghold of Sirte, the Colonel remains at large apparently within the country, and oil infrastructure remains ablaze, but the Libyan NTC hopes to restart oil production “within days”, according to Ali Tarhouni, the NTC’s oil minister.
“In the next few days we expect a lot of oil wells will be rehabilitated,” Tarhouni told Reuters. Tarhouni has not specified which wells will come back on line so soon or whether they will be used to meet domestic demand or be used for cash-raising exports.
International Oil Companies have made it clear that they aim to return to Libya under their pre-war contracts as soon as possible, with Italian firm Eni stating that the recently-repaired major Greenstream gas export  pipeline to Italy will be running again by mid-October, and Spanish firm Repsol saying production at their fields could restart within weeks.
However, concerns remain over security, after several oil fields have been found to have been planted with land mines by retreating Gaddafi forces.
There will also be repair work required to neglected and war-damaged infrastructure in order to resume exports near pre-war levels. A tank at the country’s largest terminal at Es-Sider remains on fire after being struck in a firefight between Gaddafi and rebel forces around a week ago.
However, the NTC has been consistently upbeat about prospects of restarting Libya’s main economic activity after the war brought it to a complete standstill.Â
Meanwhile, Nouri Berouin, the NTC head of Libya’s National Oil Company, has pledged to introduce transparency to the country’s oil dealings, a move regarded by analysts as vital to ensuring the long-term stability of Libya’s economy.Â
“We are going to make it more transparent and national oil companies will be more independent,” he told Reuters from the rebel government’s headquarters in Benghazi.
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