France’s Total has become the first international oil company to resume production in Libya.

The oil major announced on 23 September it had started pumping crude oil again at the Al-Jurf offshore platform in the Mediterranean, around 100 kilometres off the Libyan coast.

Total operates Al-Jurf with German company Wintershall and the National Oil Company, producing 40,000 barrels a day (b/d) before activities ground to a halt in March as the armed conflict between Muammar Gaddafi and rebel forces escalated.

It will take “a few weeks” before production at the platform reaches pre-conflict levels, said a company spokesman.

On 13 September, local firm Arabian Gulf Oil became the first company to restart production. Prior to the hostilities, Libya produced 1.6 million b/d of crude.