Libya’s key oilfield Sharara closed late on Sunday over salary payouts
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Libya’s giant Sharara oil field has been closed since late on Sunday, shutting off the production of more than 230,000 barrels per day (bpd), an engineer at the field and a Libyan oil source said.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement on Monday that it was “working towards a swift restart of production. At this moment, there are no plans to declare force majeure.”
They did not disclose the reason for the shutdown but a trading source said it was linked to a protest over salary demands.
The engineer said Sharara was pumping some 236,000 bpd before the latest shutdown.
Libya is exempt from OPEC-led oil production cuts, and the North African country’s revival has complicated the bloc’s efforts to bolster global prices.
Libya was producing more than 1.6 million bpd before a 2011 uprising led to a political and armed conflict that badly disrupted its oil industry.
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