OPEC Urges EU Not to Target Iran Oil, Says Libya Back to Full Production Soon

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The head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Wednesday he hoped the EU would not press sanctions on Iran's "difficult to replace" oil exports, as he expected Libya to return to full pre-war oil production levels by mid-2012.

"I really hope there will not be an EU embargo on Iranian oil," OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri said at the World Petroleum Congress in Doha.

"It will be very, very difficult to replace" the exports of this OPEC member, he said.

"Europe now is facing some difficulties... so to cut these 865,000 barrels a day immediately, I think it will be a problem," he said, apparently referring to Iran's exports to all of Europe, as the EU imports only around 450,000 bpd from Iran, according to the International Energy Agency.

The EU last week piled up pressure on Tehran following an attack on the British embassy, beefing up sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, while it threatened to hit its oil and finance sectors next.

El-Badri said that the war-wrecked North African nation will return to its pre-war production level "at the end of the second quarter" next year.

Tripoli has said that it expects to reach its pre-conflict output level by the end of 2012.

"The production is coming very fast and has surprised almost everybody," said El-Badri.

"By the end of the second quarter of next year Libya will produce 1.58 (million barrels per day)," he said.

Last month, Libya's National Oil Corporation said the country has boosted its oil crude production to 600,000 barrels per day and is expected to add another 200,000 bpd before the end of the year.

Estimates indicate that some 10 percent of the OPEC country's oil infrastructure was severely damaged during the eight-month rebellion against toppled leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured and killed in October.

Spain's oil company Repsol said on Tuesday its resumed production in Libya has reached around 200,000 barrels a day, representing around 60 percent of its pre-war production of 340,000 bpd.

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