(Reuters) – Libya’s Sarir, Messla and Nafoura oilfields have received instructions to resume production, engineers at the three fields told Reuters on Saturday, after a standoff between rival political factions shut most of the country’s oilfields.
The resumption order was made by the fields’ operator, the Arabian Gulf Oil Company, which did not provide any reasons, according to the engineers.
A struggle to control the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has sparked a blockade of oil production and threatens the worst crisis in years for the major energy exporter, long torn between rival eastern and western factions.
The standoff was triggered when western factions moved this month to oust veteran governor Sadiq al-Kabir and replace him with a rival board, leading eastern factions to shut down all oil production.
The eastern-based administration, which controls oilfields that account for almost all the country’s production, are demanding western authorities back down over the replacement of the CBL governor – a key position in a state where control over oil revenue is the biggest prize for all factions.
Earlier on Saturday, the Libyan oil export port of Hariga stopped operating due to insufficient crude supplies following the near-total shutdown of the Sarir oilfield, the port’s main supplier, engineers at the terminal said.
The Sarir field normally produces about 209,000 barrels per day (bpd). Libya pumped about 1.18 million bpd in July in total.
On Friday, Libya’s National Oil Corporation said recent oilfield closures have caused the loss of approximately 63% of the country’s total oil production.
(Reporting by Ayman Al-Warfali; Writing by Hatem Maher; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Daniel Wallis)
