The National Oil Corporation has called for an immediate reopening of the closed oil pipelines in south west of Libya; days after it has announced it is ready to restart crude exportations from the oil terminals in the east.

The Tripoli-based NOC urged tribal militia groups to reopen the pipelines in Al-Rayana town, which connects El-Sharara oil field to Al-Zawiya refinery, and El-Feel oil field to Millitah Complex.

The Chairman of NOC Mustafa Sanallah said oil production could be increased to 250,000 bpd by the end of the year and 350.00 bpd by next June from both oil fields if the pipelines were reopened.

"At the national level, we can increase oil production to 600,000 bpd within a month, 900,000 bpd by the end of the year, and 1.2m bpd in 12 months." He declared.

In November 2014, armed militias from Zintan town closed the oil pipeline in Al-Rayana that links El-Sharara oil field to Al-Zawiya refinery as a reaction to the takeover of the field by a military force linked to Libya Dawn Operation.

Five months later, the same militias closed the pipeline that links El-Feel oil field to Millitah Complex.

The closure of the pipelines has cost $27 billion in lost production, the NOC announced.

The Zintani militias aligned with Dignity Operation in east Libya are demanding that guards of El Sharara oil field, mainly from the city of Misrata, give the field back to them.

El-Sharara oil field, a joint venture between NOC and Spain's Repsol, is about 800 km to the southwest of Tripoli with a production capacity of about 370.000 barrels a day.

El-Feel (Elephant), is an oil field located onshore in Libya's Murzuq Basin, 200 km to the southwest of Sabha. It's a joint venture between Italy's ENI and the National Oil Corporation of Libya with a production of around 58.000 bpd.