Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Sunday that a key oilfield providing crude volumes to Mediterranean tankers is back at work after a two-week shutdown.
The force majeure declared on 7 January for Al Sharara field has been lifted and the facility is resuming “full production”, NOC said.
Sharara, which supplies crude to the Zawiya port near Tripoli, shut down due to protests by local citizens pushing for authorities to improve public services.
NOC said at the time that it was negotiating with the protesters to resume production as soon as possible.
The emergency hit volumes for tankers in the Mediterranean region, particularly aframaxes.
Sharara is one of Libya’s largest fields and has been a frequent target for local and broader political protests.
It is in the Murzuq basin in southwest Libya and is run by NOC via the Acacus company.
Sharara can produce up to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Shipbroker BRS Group said Libya has been shipping out between 150,000 bpd and 170,000 bpd recently, out of a total of 1.1m bpd in exports, mainly carried on aframaxes.
Libya is an important oil producer but its output has been disrupted repeatedly in the years following a Nato-backed uprising in 2011 against its then leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
The country has since been mired in a civil war.
