Libya Sees Oil Output at Pre-War Levels in 15 Months

The newly-appointed chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Tuesday oil production can restart within weeks and will reach full pre-war output within fifteen months.

"Starting up production will be within weeks, not months. After we start it will take less than 15 months (to reach full output)," Nouri Berouin, chairman of the NOC, told Reuters.

The OPEC member was producing 1.6 million barrels per day before an uprising began in February against leader Muammar Gaddafi. The civil war caused foreign workers to flee and some oilfields and export terminals were damaged.

"I have met with international oil companies and the first thing I told them was that we respect all contracts," he said. (Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Christian Lowe and Keiron Henderson)