ENI plans to double Libya production

Italian energy major ENI is planning to double production from pre-war levels in Libya to 600,000 barrels per day in a decade, the head of exploration and production was quoted on Saturday as saying. The executive, Claudio Descalzi, told Italian daily La Stampa that "by June 2012 production of oil and gas would reach its pre-war level" of 280,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from around 200,000 bpd at the moment. This level would then be increased to 300,000 by 2013 and there could be "a potential doubling of production within a decade" with total investments in the country of up to $35 billion (26.4 billion euros), Descalzi said. ENI is the biggest foreign energy producer in Libya, a former Italian colony which accounted for around 15 percent of ENI's global production and around 11 percent of Italy's natural gas imports before the war to oust Moamer Kadhafi. The company suspended almost all production during the conflict in which some oil infrastructure was damaged. It re-opened a gas pipeline from Libya to Italy in October and resumed production at a key gas field this month.