By Hadi Fornaji.
Tripoli, 11 August 2013:
Production at the El Fil (Elephant), is about to restart according to a leaked memo purporting . . .[restrict]to come from Mellitah Oil & Gas senior official.
The massive field west of Murzuk, run by Mellitah, a joint venture between the NOC and Italy’s Eni, and capable of producing 130,000 barrels a day, stopped pumping several weeks ago after staff were pulled out following a dispute with mainly Tebu workers over salaries and other benefits.
The memo, dated today, calls on key staff to take the next flight to the field in order to restart production. There are reports that that could happen as early as tonight.
The move follows reports of an agreement with the protesters. Resumption would significantly boost Libyan production figures, massively down from the 1.6 million b/d achieved earlier this year. Last week, however, Oil Minister Abdulbari Arusi suggested that production was once again rising.
The picture is far from wholly encouraging, however. The Libyan news agency LANA today reported that workers at Agoco’s Hamada and Sarir oil fields have again demanded that the National Oil Corporation reverse its decision to replace Agoco’s management and remove its chairman Ahmed al-Magbry. The workers have threatened to cut production of oil in the fields if their demands are not met.
So far, however, according to a company official, the threats have not been put into effect. [/restrict]
