Libya resumes production at major oilfield

TRIPOLI

Libya's state-owned energy firm has said production resumed at Al-Sharara oilfield, which provides a quarter of the country's daily oil output, two weeks after protests led to a shutdown.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced the "lifting of force majeure" and the resumption of "full production" at Al-Sharara, which normally produces up to 315,000 barrels per day.

The NOC on Jan. 7 declared "force majeure" at the southwestern oilfield "due to the closure of the site by protesters."

It did not elaborate at the time on the protesters' demands.

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 on Jan. 21 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.

Libya sits on Africa's largest oil reserves but production has been frequently disrupted during over a decade of chaos since a NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and killing of former dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.