The Ministry of Oil and Gas in the interim national unity government has announced the resumption of operations and oil production in both the Sharara field, managed by Akakus Oil Operations, and the El Feel field, managed by Mellitah Oil & Gas, after a halt in production since last Thursday.
In a brief statement, the ministry expressed its gratitude to the workers in both fields and all oil fields and ports for their continued efforts in production.
Earlier, two oil engineers from the Sharara field told Reuters that the field was partially back in operation with a daily output of 30,000 barrels, down from the usual 290,000, after a halt since last Thursday. They added that production would return to normal by Sunday morning.
Reports have been circulating since last Thursday about the closure of the El Feel and Sharara fields, but no statement was issued from the National Oil Corporation about the situation in the fields. However, the Ministry of Oil and Gas in the interim national unity government confirmed on Friday that some oil fields had been closed, but did not specify which ones.
Meanwhile, the Public Electricity Company appealed to the government and all relevant bodies and parties on Friday morning for “urgent intervention and rectification of a malfunction in the Sharara oil field as soon as possible”. The company did not clarify in a statement what the malfunction in the Sharara field was, but called for its resolution to avoid severe consequences for the southern power stations in particular and the general grid in general, and to prevent any outages.
The company expressed its “regret over the sudden negative developments in the field”, declaring “its lack of responsibility for the effects that will occur in the coming days due to this problem”, while praising the efforts of the company’s employees at all levels, as well as the cooperation of the National Oil Corporation in improving the performance of the electrical grid.
There have been increasing threats to shut down oil fields and ports against the backdrop of accusations of the internal security apparatus “kidnapping” the Minister of Finance in the former government of national accord, Faraj Bomtari. This was met with UN calls to end the closure of some oil fields and to refrain from any escalation, including the use of incitement speech.
In response to the “unjustified kidnapping” of Bomtari during his visit to the capital Tripoli, those who called themselves “young men and dignitaries and sheikhs of the Zuwayya tribe” threatened to shut down oil fields and ports if he was not released, as stated in a statement.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed “deep concern about reports of the closure of some oil fields in response to the kidnapping of Bomtari”, warning that this closure “would affect the main source of income for the Libyan people”.
On Saturday evening, Al Wasat channel (Wtv) reported the release of Faraj Bomtari after days of detention in the capital, Tripoli.
In an interview with Al Wasat (Wtv) two days ago, Al-Heliq described Bomtari’s detention in Tripoli as a “conspiracy” by the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Siddiq Al-Kabir. However, the President of the Supreme Council of State, Khaled Al-Mishri, confirmed that the arrest of the former Minister of Finance was due to his candidacy for the position of Governor of the Central Bank of Libya.