Offshore gas production starts in Libya

Gas production at a platform off the coast of Libya is expected to reach at least 380 million cubic feet per day by the end of the month, ENI declared. Italian energy company ENI announced that its joint venture with Libya's National Oil Co., Mellitah Oil and Gas, restarted gas production at the Sabratha platform in the Mediterranean Sea. Production from the offshore Bahr Essalam field, one of Libya's largest, will start at around 140 million cubic feet per day and reach at least 380 million cfd by the end of the month. ENI said the natural gas would be processed at a Libyan treatment plant and shipped to Italy through the Greenstream natural gas pipeline, which resumed operations last month. Italy had received nearly 10 percent of its natural gas from Greenstream before the Libyan war began in February. Much of the energy infrastructure in Libya was damaged by conflict, which began to wane when rebel forces captured Tripoli in August. "The restart of gas production from the offshore platform of Sabratha is another important step in progressively restoring production activities in all fields in Libya," Eni said in a statement.