Libya seeks to raise oil output to over 1 million bpd by August

TRIPOLI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Libya's head of national oil corporation Mustafa Sanalla has said he expects the daily production of oil to rise to more than one million barrels per day (bpd) by August.

"Today, we are producing 700,000 barrels per day and we are working very hard to raise the daily production to 800,000 barrels before the end of April. We will reach 1.1 million barrels per day by August," Sanalla said.

Earlier in March, major oil ports in eastern Libya witnessed violent clashes between armed forces led by Khalifa Haftar and a militia called "Benghazi Defense Brigades" which attempted to take over the oil ports.

Haftar's army said it had taken back control of the ports days after the fighting erupted, when the oil production was reduced to 600,000 bpd.

Oil production, the main source of income in Libya, has been suffering because of heavy fighting between rival armed groups in the oil fields and ports.

Libya's oil production was 1.6 million bpd before the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime.