Libya Announces Resumption of Oil Production at Two Major Fields

© AFP 2023 ABDULLAH DOMAA general view shows an oil facility in the northern oil rich Libyan town of al-Buraqah on January 12, 2017.
A general view shows an oil facility in the northern oil rich Libyan town of al-Buraqah on January 12, 2017.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 16.07.2023
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On Thursday, protesters in Libya blocked the country's two largest oilfields. According to the protesters, who are mainly from the Al-Zawi tribe, the reason for such a protest was the detention in the capital Tripoli of their tribesman, former Finance minister in the Government of National Accord (GNA) Faraj Bumatari.
Libya's Ministry of Oil and Gas announced that oil production at the country's two largest fields – El Feel and Sharara - were resuming after they were unblocked by protesters, the ministry said in a statement.
Following Saturday's closure, the ministry reported that work has restarted and oil production at the Sharara field, which is managed by Akakus Oil Operations, and the El Feel field, which is managed by the Mellitah oil and gas company.
Earlier, the head of the Supreme Council of the Al-Zawi Tribes, Sheikh Al-Senussi Al-Haliq, told Sputnik that protesters in Libya intend to leave the oil fields since the former finance minister of the Cabinet of Ministers in Tripoli was released.
On Saturday, news emerged that the ex-head of the Ministry of Finance of the GNA (which existed in 2015-2021) was released after the nation's Prosecutor General had intervened.
A Libyan oil worker, works at a refinery inside the Brega oil complex, in Brega, eastern Libya - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 15.07.2023
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Closure of Libya's Major Oil Fields Threatening Domestic Production: Oil Ministry
Earlier, the nation's Minister of Oil and Gas of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Mohamed Aoun, said that Libya was losing about 340,000 barrels per day due to the closure of the two oil fields by local tribes.
After the overthrow and assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya ceased to function as a single state. Over the past few years, the authorities in Tripoli in the country's west and its rival government in the east, which were supported by the Libyan National Army under the command of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, have been at loggerheads.
In 2021, the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations elected a transitional executive until the general elections, which have not yet been held.
At the moment, there are two governments in Libya that do not recognize each other. The GNU – supported by the UN and headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh that operates out of Tripoli. The second – empowered by the House of Representatives – is based in Sirte and temporarily led by Osama Hamada after the removal of Fathi Bashagha.
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