Security Issues Continue to Plague Libya's Oil-Supply Growth - RIGZONE / BLOOMBERG

Wednesday, July 18, 2018Salma El Wardany

(Bloomberg) -- Just as Libya resumes oil exports from recently shuttered ports, an attack on its largest field is setting back progress yet again.

An incursion by gunmen into the Sharara field on Saturday and the kidnapping of workers there forced the National Oil Corp. to cut production and put a ban on exports. It’s the latest in a string of security incidents that have hobbled Libyan shipments despite repeated attempts to restore flows in the politically divided nation.

“This incident required us to shut down and evacuate a number of stations,” NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said in a statement. The kidnappers released two of the four abducted workers later the same day but still hold two others.

Libya's Sharara oil field gradually shutting down: engineer - REUTERS

A general view of the El Sharara oilfield, Libya December 3, 2014.
Photo by Ismail Zitouny

AUGUST 7, 2017 / 4:37 AM

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's Sharara oilfield, which has been producing 270,000 barrels a day (bpd), is gradually shutting down after the closure of a control room in the northern city of Zawiya, an engineer at the field said late on Sunday.

The engineer did not give details of why the control room had closed but posts by oil workers on Facebook said it had been stormed by an armed group.

Libya has been exempted from an OPEC-led push to cut global production and bolster oil prices and the recovery of the North African country's output over the past year has complicated the bloc's efforts to curb global supply.

Egyptian oil and energy sector to reestablish work in Libya - LIBYAN EXPRESS

Thursday 6 April 2017

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and energy sector construction company Petrojet plan to reestablish their presence in Libya, a Libyan official said yesterday, after a meeting with company representatives that also included the chair of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanallah.

NOC and EGPC also agreed to form a partnership to study possible oil and gas projects, although no further details were provided, OilPRice reported.

A meeting took place between the Egyptian officials and the Libyan ones headed by the Deputy Head of the Presidential Council, Ahmed Mitig.

Oil prices fall as Libya's output rebound boosts supply - EGYPT INDEPENDENT / REUTERS

Tue, 04/04/2017 - 10:32

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as a rebound in Libyan crude production combined with an increase in US drilling to signal the potential for increased supply.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 was down 20 cents at US$52.92 a barrel by 0735 GMT. US light crude oil CLc1 was 20 cents lower at US$50.04 a barrel.

Both benchmarks recovered from four-month lows last week on expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would manage to tighten supply by cutting production under a deal agreed at the end of last year.

Libya's Oil Output Down 252,000 Bpd Due To Armed Protests - RIGZONE / REUTERS

Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Reporting: Julia Payne (Lausanne), Ahmad Ghaddar (London), Olga Yagova (Moscow), Aidan Lewis (Tunis); Writing: Ahmad Ghaddar, Aidan Lewis; Editing: Mark Potter, David Evans

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Oil production from the western Libyan fields of Sharara and Wafa has been blocked by armed protesters, reducing output by 252,000 barrels per day (bpd), a source at the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Tuesday.

NOC declared force majeure on loadings of Sharara crude from the Zawiya oil terminal in the west of the country and Wafa condensate loadings from the Mellitah terminal.

Supplies were stopped by the shutdown of pipelines leading from the fields to Zawiya refinery and port, a Libyan oil source said. The identity of the group was not immediately clear and there had been no claim of responsibility, he said.

The shutdown at Sharara, which had been producing about 220,000 bpd, began on Monday, a day after the Wafa shutdown, the NOC source said.

There was no official comment from the NOC.

Reopening Libya oil ports is newly unified NOC’s ‘top’ priority - WORLD OIL

By SALMA EL WARDANY on 7/11/2016

TRIPOLI (Bloomberg) -- Libya’s state crude producer is seeking to reopen oil ports and restore crude output as the fractured OPEC nation struggles to reunite after five years of civil strife, according to its chairman.

Four ports accounting for about 860,000 bpd in crude exporting capacity have been shut due to political turmoil and fighting. Libya now produces a fraction of the 1.6 MMbopd that it pumped before the toppling of ruler Moammar Al Qaddafi in 2011. A July 2 deal uniting the National Oil Corp.’s rival administrations enables the company to focus on reviving Libya’s crippled oil industry, Chairman Sanalla Ibrahim said.