Libya could return to the global oil market within weeks after the rebels appeared to be on the brink of victory, but the full resumption of output is months, if not years, away.
Libya produced about 1.6m barrels a day of oil before the start of the civil war, but the six-month conflict has reduced the flow to just 50,000 b/d, according to industry estimates.
Consultants and industry executives believe the fall of the 41-year-old regime of Muammar Gaddafi could see Libya producing 300,000 b/d during the next three months from fields in the east, which have been under rebel control since the start of the civil war, and the remote south-west desert. But ramping up output to pre-crisis levels would take years under the most benign scenario.