Oil field closures in Libya intensified on Wednesday as output from the Sarir oilfield was cut to near full closure amid a political dispute over control of the central bank and oil revenues, two engineers told Reuters.
Authorities in eastern Libya, where most of the oil fields are located, announced on Monday they intended to halt all production and exports.
The two engineers said that the Sarir field was producing about 209 thousand barrels per day before the production reduction.
The National Oil Corporation declared force majeure on the Sharara oil field, one of the largest oil fields in Libya with a production capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.
Reuters also reported this week that there was unrest in the fields of Al-Feel, Al-Amal, Al-Nafoura and Abu Al-Tifel.
In July, OPEC member Libya produced about 1.18 million barrels of oil per day.
The move to shut down Libya’s main source of revenue comes in response to the Tripoli-based Presidential Council’s dismissal of Libya’s central bank governor, Sadiq al-Kabir, which led to rival armed factions mobilising their forces.
Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibah said this week that oil fields should not be allowed to be shut down under “flimsy pretexts.”
Dbeibah took over as head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity in a UN-backed process in 2021.
The commander of US forces in Africa, General Michael Langley, and the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy, Jeremy Brent, met yesterday, Tuesday, with retired Major General Khalifa Haftar, who leads the eastern Libyan forces (the Libyan National Army) that control the east and south of the country.
The US embassy in Libya said on its Twitter account, “The United States urges all stakeholders in Libya to engage in constructive dialogue” with the support of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the international community.
“The initiative by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya to host talks between key Libyan parties offers a path forward to resolve the crisis over the Central Bank of Libya, and the U.S. Embassy in Libya urges all parties to seize this opportunity,” she added.
Oil prices fell 1.2 percent to $78.35 a barrel as concerns about demand from China and the risk of a broader economic slowdown outweighed the impact of any loss of supplies from Libya and other countries.
