US-Libyan joint venture, Waha Oil Company has restarted crude oil production from two of its fields at 16,000 barrels a day (b/d).

The Tripoli based company plans to raise production to capacity at the Dahra and Samah fields, according to state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC). It produced as much as 400,000 b/d before the civil war began in March this year.

The firm also operates the Waha and Gialo oil fields as well as the Essider oil terminal, 180 kilometres east of the city of Sirte. It is owned by NOC in joint venture with three US firms, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil and Hess Corporation.

The resumption of crude production follows the end of a strike calling for the removal of the company’s senior management in mid-November.

The National Transitional Council’s (NTC) Oil and Finance Ministry agreed to remove chairman Bashir Alashab, who workers accused of cooperating with the deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi. He was replaced by Ahmed Amar, who will assume the post for six months to a year as Libya prepares for elections.

Libya’s production currently stands at more than 750,000 b/d, according to NOC, compared with about 1.6 million b/d before the civil war began.