Al-Sharara oilfield, responsible for a significant portion of Libya’s daily oil output, has recommenced production, as confirmed by the National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Sunday.
The NOC announced the end of “force majeure” and the complete restoration of production at Al-Sharara, a key facility typically yielding up to 315,000 barrels per day.
This development comes two weeks after protests prompted the shutdown, leading the NOC to declare “force majeure” on January 7, attributing it to the site’s closure by demonstrators.
Repeated interruptions in crude production in the war-torn North African country have been caused by social and political protests amid clashes between rival factions.
A local group in Oubari region, “Fezzan Gathering,” announced earlier on Sunday they had reached an agreement with the NOC to end their protest action at Al-Sharara.
“In an agreement with the president of the NOC, in which he vowed to concede to our demands… we announce the suspension of our sit-in at the Al-Sharara field,” a representative of the group said in a Facebook video.
Both the NOC and “Fezzan Gathering” did not share the details of the accord.
According to the protest group, they have received “guarantees” from military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who backs one of Libya’s two rival administrations