• Field capacity about 20,000 barrels per day
• NOC targets 1.6 million bpd output by 2026

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Sunday, Feb. 22, that production has resumed at the Sinawen oil field in the Nalut region after more than three and a half years offline.

The state-owned company said the shutdown was due to financial difficulties and technical issues affecting crude transport to the Mellitah complex, according to the Libyan News Agency (LANA).

The Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO), a subsidiary of the NOC that operates the field, said it had completed maintenance and fixed problems on the export pipeline, Libyan outlet Al-Wasat reported.

Inaugurated in October 2020, Sinawen has begun a gradual ramp-up. The field has a capacity of around 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) under normal operating conditions. No production figures have yet been disclosed.

The restart comes as Libya moves to reactivate oil assets. On Feb. 9, Agence Ecofin reported that the Al-Sarir refinery, operated by AGOCO, had returned to full capacity after maintenance on its distillation unit, part of NOC efforts to improve refining reliability. In March 2025, the Mabruk field resumed operations after nearly a decade offline.

A coordinated plan to increase oil supply

More broadly, Sinawen’s restart aligns with a national output target set by Libyan authorities. In October 2025, the NOC said it aims to raise production to 1.6 million bpd by the end of 2026, up from about 1.38 million bpd at the time.

Chairman Farhat Bengdara outlined the target following meetings with international partners under an investment programme aimed at restoring and expanding production capacity.

In late January 2026, Waha Oil Company, jointly owned by the NOC, TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips, signed a 25-year development agreement. Under terms disclosed by the companies, the project involves several billion dollars in investment to increase output at the concessions, with capacity potentially reaching about 850,000 bpd.

Also in January 2026, the NOC unveiled a plan to raise national refining capacity to roughly 660,000 bpd through upgrades to existing facilities and new industrial projects.

Abdel-Latif Boureima