Libya's oil production has plunged dramatically after three weeks of unrest, the country's top oil industry official said overnight Thursday, dpa reported.
Shukri Ghanem, chairman of the state-owned National Oil Corporation NOC, said that production was now down to around 500,000 barrels per day, compared with 1.58 million bpd before the unrest.
Ghanem said that the production drop was chiefly the result of oil workers fleeing the fighting, and less to any damage inflicted on production facilities.
He appealed to Libyans not to damage the country's oil facilities, as these were Libya's most important source of income.
Ghanem played down the effects of the damage so far in the oil regions of Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra in eastern Libya. Other than a small diesel depot, nothing had been destroyed, he said.
The comment came after rebels had said that troops loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi had badly damaged the facilities near the port of Al-Sidra.