Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Tuesday it would immediately start working to resume crude exports from ports seized in recent days by forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar.

Welcoming pledges from Haftar's Libyan National Army and the pro-Haftar head of Libya's eastern parliament that the ports would be placed under NOC control, NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said he hoped for a "new phase of cooperation" and that production could be raised to 600,000 barrels per day from about 290,000 bpd within a month.

Any such plans are likely to face political and legal obstacles. Haftar has so far opposed a U.N.-backed government in Tripoli. The United States and five European powers condemned his move on the oil ports on Monday, saying they would enforce a U.N. Security Council resolution against "illicit" exports outside the authority of that government.

Starting on Sunday, pro-Haftar forces took control of the ports of Ras Lanuf, Es Sider, Brega and Zueitina from units of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), a rival force allied to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

The move risks a new conflict over Libya's oil resources, and possible armed retaliation from Haftar's rivals.

But the NOC said it would "begin work immediately to restart exports", and that all exports must be within the U.N. resolution.

"Our technical teams already started assessing what needs to be done to lift force majeure and restart exports as soon as possible," Sanalla said in a statement.

"I hope this marks the beginning of a new phase of cooperation and coexistence between Libya's factions, as well as an end to the use of the blockade as a political tactic."

The PFG had struck a deal with the GNA in July to resume exports from Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Zueitina, all of which the PFG had been blockading for years.

Sanalla had spoken out against that deal, accusing PFG commander Ibrahim Jathran of overclaiming for the back payment of salaries, although the NOC had offered two cargoes for export from Ras Lanuf for later this month. – Reuters