TRIPOLI: Libya has started a partial production shutdown of its largest oil field, three people with direct knowledge of the operations say.
Output at the Sharara field had dropped by 30,000 barrels a day to 230,000 as of Saturday night after operators received orders to start partially shutting down production, according to the people, who asked not to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the reason was for the shutdown.
When the field will come to a complete halt wasn’t made known either.
The field in south-east Libya is a venture between state oil firm the National Oil Corp, France’s Total SE, Spain’s Repsol SA, Austria’s OMV AG and Norway’s Equinor ASA.
Libya has Africa’s biggest oil reserves but energy production has often been at the heart of the political conflict.
This is especially with armed groups or protesters periodically shutting down facilities to press demands. — Bloomberg
