Factbox: Oil output after war, other traumas

>The speed of any recovery in oil and gas output from Libya, which has been disrupted by six months of civil war, would depend on the extent of damage to infrastructure.Analysts have also warned of the risk of the nation descending into chaos because of divisions among the rebels opposed to Muammar Gaddafi.A Reuters survey of analysts and industry officials predicted output could recover to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in a matter of months, but could struggle to return to pre-war levels of about 1.6 million bpd.Below are examples of trauma and civil war in other oil-producing nations and the challenges they faced in restoring output.The caveat is every situation is different."It's very hard to draw analogies," said Greg Priddy, an energy analyst at Eurasia Group in Washington.The one generalization that applied broadly, he said, was that output depended enormously on whether international companies with highly evolved skills could be brought in to offset the natural decline of oilfields over their lifetime.For Libya, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said the most optimistic scenario would be if a new Libyan government sought to use its oil and gas resources more effectively for the benefit of the people -- and that would depend on international help."If this is to be achieved in a short timeframe, Libya will have to look to partnerships with the international industry, who will bring finance, skills and technology to existing oilfields, which will have the potential to produce up to 3 million barrels per day," it wrote in a research paper.It has charted Libya's possible recovery using data estimated on June 29.Its upstream service said it believed the recovery outlook was valid for about 12 months and was based on a working assumption a resolution would be achieved in Libya by the end of this year.If the shut-in takes longer, recovery would probably be slower as infrastructure deteriorates.IranIran's 1979 revolution paralyzed the country and its oil and gas industry.The neighboring regime of Saddam Hussein sought to take advantage of the revolutionary chaos and invaded Iran in 1980.Iran's current output of around 3.55 million bpd, far off peaks above 6 million bpd achieved in the 1970s, has gradually recovered from the revolutionary lows.But analysts say its oil and gas infrastructure has been permanently damaged by years of international sanctions, underinvestment and the need for the expertise of international oil companies.IraqIraq's military aggression and more recently, the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003 has led to plunges in oil output, which has yet to reach the levels of above 3 million hit in the late 1970s and early 1980s.Production shrank from more than 2 million bpd to less than half a million bpd in 1991 following the first Gulf War, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.Output gradually recovered before being briefly dented in 2003.International bidding rounds in 2009 brought major oil companies into Iraq and contracts were signed that in theory could raise the nation's capacity to 12 million bpd, on a par with leading exporter Saudi Arabia.However, even with a flood of international interest, Iraq output faces many constraints, such as depleted reservoirs and poor infrastructure, notably for capturing associated gas.KuwaitIraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait brought production to a standstill.The nation has never matched a peak of more than 3 million bpd touched in the 1970s, but it recovered within the space of three years to output of around 2 million bpd seen before the 1990 invasion.Eurasia's Priddy said Kuwait's advantages in achieving a quick recovery included financial means and a nation free from internal discord or external interference.Development of the northern fields, following sabotage by retreating Iraqi forces, however has been stalled by extended political deadlock over letting in foreign firms.Russia and the former Soviet UnionThe former Soviet Union led the world's oil production with output of more than 12 million bpd in the 1980s.Its collapse in 1991 resulted in oil production halving by the end of the 20th century after investment dried up and future oligarchs fought over assets at privatization auctions.Production from Russia has since climbed to more than 10 million bpd, but some analysts say it could be at its peak unless more international expertise can be brought in and the tax regime altered.The International Energy Agency has also said a predictable tax regime was needed to ensure output was sustained from highly challenging oilfields.VenezuelaA crippling strike from December 2002 to January 2003 aimed at removing President Hugo Chavez from office reduced production to a trickle.The state oil giant PDVSA sacked thousands of employees for joining the strike and used troops and replacement workers to restart output.Analysts say the skills lost in the process have had a lasting impact and production is still below levels hit just before the strike.(Reporting by Barbara Lewis and Dmitri Zhdannikov; editing by Jason Neely)