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DUBAI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The rebel Libyan ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that Libya's Zawiya refinery had not been badly damaged in fighting between government and rebel forces and that it would be the first to resume production.
"The refinery (in Zawiya) is not so severely damaged, there are some minor damages and they are being fixed," Aref Ali Nayed told a news conference in Dubai.
He said he expected oil output to resume soon.
"We expect oil production to resume as quickly as we can," he said. "The oil platform in the Mediterranean (is) sharing arrangements with some companies now that Gaddafi is finished; judicially and legally we are able to go forward. There are no physical reasons for stopping production," he said.
"A lot of people worked very hard to resume production very soon, I can't give a deadline or a date... but what I can tell you is it will be very soon."
He said the UAE and Qatar would be well placed to provide fuel to the country.
"We need heavy fuel, we need gas ... and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar particularly, and Kuwait, are well placed to supply such fuel. Fuel consumption in Libya is very, very large and electrical generations are now depending on heavy fuel rather than gas because of the interruption of gas production."
He said the UAE and Qatar would play an important role in the overall reconstruction of Libya.
Nayed is a member of the Libya Stabilisation Team responsible for reconstruction efforts. He said the team had already started operations in Libya, including Tripoli. (Reporting by Mahmoud Habboush; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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