Benghazi, Libya (ANTARA News) - Libya`s rebel-controlled AGOCO oil firm said on Sunday it would restart production at its Sarir and Mesla fields in mid-September and load the first crude at its Tobruk terminal by the end of the same month.

"Operations will start on September 15 and by the end of the month we will have the capability to export from Tobruk," Abdeljalil Mayuf, spokesman for AGOCO, told Reuters.

He said technical teams would be sent out to the fields after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends, in the first week of September.

Initial production will be at around 60,000-100,000 barrels per day and any further increase would depend on the condition of underground wells.

The oilfields in eastern Libya were damaged by troops loyal to Libya`s Muammar Gaddafi during the country`s civil war, killing 14 oil workers. The damage has now been repaired, AGOCO said, while rebel officials say they have set up a special security force to protect oil infrastructure from saboteurs. (*)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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