Libya's oil production is between 350,000 and 380,000 barrels a day, the new chairman of a state oil firm based in eastern Libya said on Saturday.

That is in line with recent output figures provided by other Libyan officials. Production is less than a quarter of what the Opec producer used to pump before an uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Libya's official government, which is based in the eastern city of Bayda since losing the capital to a rival group a year ago, earlier appointed him as head of its state oil firm NOC, also located in the east.

The move is largely symbolic as oil production and the marketing of exports are controlled by the established state oil firm, also known as NOC, in Tripoli where a rival government is in charge.

The official government has set up an oil firm also called NOC based in the east but oil customers have refused to deal with it, preferring to pay through existing channels via NOC in Tripoli.

Maghrabi, who is currently in Egypt, confirmed customers were still dealing with NOC Tripoli but said he wanted to change this.

"We are about to announce an international conference in Benghazi so the world can meet the legitimate (state oil) firm," he told Egyptian TV channel CBC. "I call on the world to head this call and deal with NOC in Bayda."

Holding any event in Benghazi would be major challenge as the city has been since May 2014 a war zone with daily street battles between forces allied to the eastern government and Islamist fighters. All hotels and the city's airport and port are closed.

One soldier got killed and five wounded during fighting on Saturday, medics said.

Maghrabi has replaced al-Mabrook Bou Seif as chairman of NOC in the east, an oil official said, without giving a reason.

The official cabinet of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni has struggled to make an impact, working out of hotels and rented villas in Bayda.

Ministries and state bodies such as the state oil firm or the central bank are in Tripoli, which is controlled by the rival faction, part of the turmoil in the OPEC member four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

Oil insiders say Thinni's new oil firm has contacted prospective buyers but legal concerns over ownership of the oil, given the duel governments, prevented any deal. – Reuters