The demonstrators blocked the oilfield this past Tuesday, demanding that the authorities address the shortage of petroleum products in the southwestern Fezzan region and improve local infrastructure and roads.
"The National Oil Corporation has declared a force majeure on the Sharara oilfield effective Sunday, January 7th, 2024, due to its closure by protesters. The closure has resulted in the suspension of crude oil supplies from the field to Zawiya terminal," the company said in a statement.
Negotiations are ongoing to resume production as soon as possible, the statement read.
In recent years, blockades of Libya's major oil fields have become more frequent as several armed groups declared themselves the Libyan Petroleum Facilities Guard. The groups demand that NOC pay them for guarding oil facilities. If the payment is refused or delayed, they shut down the facilities.
Libya has been in turmoil since a NATO invasion helped topple long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. His death led to a decade-long rivalry between the UN-backed administration in Tripoli and the parliament in Tobruk.
The UN-brokered reconciliation process put a caretaker unity government in charge in 2021, but the interim authorities have so far failed to hold elections due to procedural disagreements.