Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC) and France’s Total discussed NOC’s efforts to raise production capacity and increase production rates to the highest levels, as well as expanding investments of the French company in Libya as the OPEC member’s oil industry recovers.

In a virtual meeting with Total’s head of E&P in the Middle East and North Africa Stephane Michel, NOC chairman Mustafa Sunallah said Libya’s oil production has rapidly returned to previous rates as it reached 1.25 million barrels per day, a NOC statement said Nov. 19.

Michel stressed Total’s readiness to provide support and cooperation, the statement said.

Libya’s oil output has been rising steadily since the gradual lifting of an eight-month blockade by eastern forces in September. On Oct. 26, NOC ended force majeure on the last facilities closed by the blockade.