Engineers at Libya’s Sarir, Messla, and Nafoura oil fields reported on Saturday that they have received instructions to resume production. This development comes after a political standoff between rival factions had shut down most of the country’s oil fields.
The resumption order was issued by the fields’ operator, the Arabian Gulf Oil Company, though no specific reasons were provided for the decision, according to the engineers who spoke to Reuters.
The restart of these oil fields follows a crisis triggered by a struggle for control over the Central Bank of Libya (CBL). Western factions moved to replace veteran governor Sadiq al-Kabir with a rival board earlier this month, prompting eastern factions to shut down all oil production in response.
The eastern-based administration, which controls oil fields accounting for nearly all of Libya’s production, has demanded that western authorities back down on the CBL governor replacement. Control over oil revenue remains the most significant prize for all factions in the politically divided country.
Earlier on Saturday, the Libyan oil export port of Hariga ceased operations due to insufficient crude supplies following the near-total shutdown of the Sarir oil field, its primary supplier. The Sarir field typically produces about 209,000 barrels per day (bpd), contributing significantly to Libya’s total production, which stood at approximately 1.18 million bpd in July.
On Friday, Libya’s National Oil Corporation reported that recent oil field closures had resulted in a loss of about 63% of the country’s total oil production.
