Libya’s internationally recognised government plans to boost oil production five-fold and will punish companies working with a rival cabinet striving to control the divided North African nation’s crude deposits, Gulf Times reported.

Oil companies operating in Libya or seeking to do so must register with the National Oil Corp controlled by the elected government based in the country’s eastern region, Deputy Prime Minister Abdussalam Elbadri said at a conference in Valletta, Malta.
The NOC will refuse to renew the contracts of any companies that don’t support the elected government, NOC chairman Nagi Elmagrabi added in an interview in Valletta. The country plans to boost crude output to 2mn bpd by 2020, he said.

Tribal and political disputes have almost completely halted onshore crude output in the western region, where a government backed by moderate Islamist militias has held power since last year. The nation’s elected government is based in the east, where some oil continues to be exported.

Libya, with Africa’s biggest oil reserves, pumped about 1.6 million barrels a day of crude before the 2011 rebellion. It’s now the smallest producer in OPEC, producing 355,000 barrels a day in August, data compiled by Bloomberg show.