By Seraj Essul.
Tripoli, 9 July 2014:
Oil has started flowing from Sharara oilfield in the southwest following on and . . .[restrict]off closures which began at the field more than a year and a half ago.
The manager at Sharara field, Hassan Al-Sideek, told the Libya Herald that the resumption of production at the oilfield was of huge importance. He said work would now begin to make sure the field began producing at maximum capacity.
Production began yesterday at about 6 pm, National Oil Corporation (NOC) spokesman Mohamed Al-Harrari said. He added that work would continue at the field until normal production levels of 340,000 barrels per day resumed.
Harrari explained that production had restarted after a blockade by armed groups, based not at the field itself but at a pipeline in Reyayna in the Jebel Nafusa, was lifted. An embargo on Sharara oilfield ended in March but shortly afterwards Zintani members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard turned off the valve on the pipeline running from the field, as a result of which production had to be suspended.
The field is operated by Akakus Oil, a joint venture between the NOC and Spain’s Repsol. Its closure has cost an estimated $34 million a day.
If production at the field can be sustained it will be a huge boost to national oil production which has plateaued at around 300,000 b/d. Shortly after the revolution national production reached 1.5 million b/d.
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