By Callum Paton.
Tripoli, 24 June 2014:
National oil production has risen slightly to 290,000 barrels a day (b/d) despite a . . .[restrict]fresh closure of Tobruk’s Hariga oil terminal.
Spokesman for the National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mohamed Al-Harrari told the Libya Herald that the new figure was the result of increased production at El-Fil oilfield which reopened ten days ago.
He said Hargia oil terminal which reopened two days ago closed again yesterday after the same Petroleum Facilities’ Guards (PFG) members who had instigated the initial embargo resumed their blockade over unpaid wages.
The previous action at Hariga resulted in the complete shut-down of production at the Sarir oilfield, as well as a severe decrease in output at the nearby Messla oilfield in order to avoid an overflow of reservoirs at Hariga.
El-Fil Oilfield was shut down on 17 May by mainly Tebu PFG brigade members from Murzuk, demanding an increase in wages – just four days after reopening. It was eventually reopened after successful negotiations between the PFG and oilfield management. A joint venture between the National Oil Corporation and Italian energy giant Eni, it is capable of producing 130,000 b/d.
The latest figures are an increase on last month’s which stood at 220,000 b/d. However, they are still far short of the 1.5 million-b/d levels of production which followed the revolution. Output has been cut dramatically since the second half of 2013 due to the armed oil blockade of Libya’s eastern oil terminals and has continued to dwindle as the results of boycotts elsewhere by groups such as the PFG.
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