TRIPOLI: Libya’s oil production has fallen to 390,000 barrels per day, some 70,000bpd less than last week, as protests have partly blocked flows from the El Sharara oilfield, the state National Oil Corp (NOC) said yesterday.
Armed groups, former rebels and tribes often shut down pipelines or occupy oilfields to make demands on the state as Libya tries to overcome instability nearly three years after a NATO-backed revolt toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi.
National production is around 390,000bpd, NOC spokesman Mohamed El Harari said. On Thursday output was 460,000bpd.
He said the El Sharara oilfield was below its capacity of 340,000 bpd because protesters partially shut down a pipeline near the western town of Zintan leading from the field to the port of Zawiya.
“We hope the government will solve the problem soon,” he said. Output at the El Sharara field had been at 301,000bpd on Wednesday.
Harari said the El Wafa oilfield was again working normally after protesters had on Wednesday shut gas and oil pipelines from the field, which produces around 30,000bpd of very light oil condensate.
NOC has not published export figures recently but the state firm normally uses around 140,000bpd of national production to feed refineries in Zawiya and Tobruk.
The demands of protesters were not immediately clear. Tensions in the country are growing over the country’s interim General National Congress, whose mandate has officially ended, but whose members have extended its term to guarantee stability.REuters
