A militia has seized the Sharara field, south of Tripoli, and has demanded oil production be halted, the National Oil Corp. (NOC) has reported.
The field started up on June 6, following a change in circumstances in the broader struggle between the Libyan National Army (LNA), based in the country’s east, and the Government of National Accord (GNA), from the west.
Even before the retreat of the LNA, though, NOC had been in negotiations with a militia that controlled the Hamada valve. This had been closed since January. NOC has confirmed that force majeure has been declared on the Sharara flow once more.
NOC said there had been major technical problems as a result of the lockdown of Sharara since January. The company went on to predict that there would be other problems as a result of lack of maintenance on pipelines and facilities.
In particular, NOC had reported problems at the Surge Tank D101 B.
The company said it had instructed employees not to comply with military orders on operations and maintenance.
The company said that they had been surprised by the return of the local armed force, which appears to be affiliated with the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) in the south. The group came from Sebha, NOC said, led by Mohamed Khalifa and Ahmed Ibrahim bin Nayel.
NOC said it wholly opposed the presence of the armed militia at its installation, warning that the group lacked the knowledge to understand the impact of the decision. The company will seek to use all legal means to deter aggressors, it said, and will seek an order from authorities on the field.
Problems at Sharara came so soon after its restart the militia’s movement virtually coincided with congratulations from the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on reopening the field and the adjacent El Feel.
“The blockade should be fully lifted across the country. Oil and other natural resources should not in any way, shape or form be instrumentalised as part of the conflict,” said UNSMIL.
Updated at 1:48 pm with confirmation that Sharara has been taken offline and force majeure declared.