Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has called on employees to return to work at oil installations and is hopeful oil production can soon increase, the head of NOC said on Monday.

The uprising against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi has sharply reduced oil production in Libya, usually Africa's third largest producer with output of 1.6 million barrels per day, or almost 2 per cent of world supply.

"The oil companies in Libya made a call for the return of all the employees to their work," NOC Chairman Shokri Ghanem told Reuters by telephone.

"The production went down because of the shortage of employees. We are calling them back so hopefully we can increase the production pretty soon." – Reuters