Ruxandra Iordache
Libya's state-owned oil firm NOC has declared force majeure on crude exports from two ports in the west of the country after output from three fields was shut down earlier today.
Libya's largest oil field — the 300,000 b/d El Sharara field — was shut by the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), which protects state-owned NOC's assets, trading and Libya-based sources said.
El Sharara is operated by Akakus Oil, a joint venture between NOC, Spain's Repsol, Austria's OMV, Norway's Equinor and TotalEnergies. The PFG is protesting against NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla's attempt to remove Ahmed Ammar from Akakus Oil's management team, according to one of the sources. Output from El Sharara is prioritised for the 120,000 b/d Zawia refinery. The remaining volumes are exported from the nearby Zawia terminal.
