LONDON (Reuters) - Libya may be forced to slash oil production within days if a stand-off between eastern and western factions that has prevented loadings at the Marsa al-Hariga port continues, an official from state oil firm NOC in Tripoli told Reuters on Thursday.
The official said that remaining storage capacity at the port is limited and filling up fast.
With no tankers loading crude at the port, Libya will be forced to shut in around 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production, or the export capacity of the port.
OPEC member Libya is already producing less than a quarter of the 1.6 million bpd it produced in 2011.
The official said that negotiations were underway to resolve a dispute between eastern and western factions that has prevented a tanker belonging to trading giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) from loading at Hariga.
The Seachance was originally due to load a 600,000-barrel cargo on April 26-28. Reuters tracking shows the tanker waiting outside the port.