By Callum Paton.
Tripoli, 13 February 2014:
Oil production has plummeted to 450,000 barrels per day (b/d), a significant decline from . . .[restrict]600,000 b/d reported two days ago, after further pipeline sabotage.
The decrease – announced today by the National Oil Corporation (NOC) – was due to the partial closure of a pipeline carrying oil from the Sharara field, said NOC spokesperson Mohammed Al-Harrari. He said that the line had been tampered with near Reyayana in the Jebel Nafusa but declined to give further details.
Sharara oilfield manager Hassan Al-Sideek told the Libya Herald yesterday that the oil flow to the Zawia refinery and oil terminal from Sharara had been cut by 60 percent after the pipeline had been sabotaged.
The rise to 600,000 b/d had been attributed to the reopening of the pipeline from Sharara after an armed group turned down the valve using similar tactics. It is thought that the same group could be responsible for the current, partial closure. [/restrict]
