Joint ventures grouping IOCs and Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC) stressed at their annual general meetings impact of sit-ins and strikes on production. Libya’s crude output fell for the second straight month to around 1.45mn b/d for December (see page 12). The Waha (Conoco/Marathon/Hess), Zueitina (Occidental/OMV) and Mellitah (Eni) joint ventures were among those to pinpoint sit-ins, as well as the continued reluctance of some foreign contractors to resume work post-revolution, as the key factors preventing stable production at full pre-revolution volumes. Zueitina port south of Benghazi, which typically handles 60,000 b/d exports of Occidental/OMV’s Zueitina production and Eni-operated Abu Attifel output, was shut by protests for four days in late December. Although the port now appears to be operating normally this capped a month which also saw protests hit production at Repsol’s Murzuq basin fields, and continued protests at the country’s key 220,000 b/d Ras Lanuf refinery, which had been shut by demonstrations in November. Protestors have been typically demanding employment opportunities (MEES, 21 December 2012). However, Spain’s Repsol, says production from its Murzuq basin-focused Akakus joint venture has since ramped up to 355,000 b/d – level with pre-revolution output – by the end of December. “We’re very happy with the way things are going in Libya; they [the NOC bureaucracy] have been super-efficient,” a Repsol source says. He added that drilling of the company’s first post-revolution exploration well on its Murzuq Basin acreage – which the company considers a continuation of a 15-well exploration program begun in 2010 – is on target for spudding in the first quarter this year with the company currently waiting for the rig to arrive.