Libya NOC declares force majeure at El Sharara: Update

Adds announcement from NOC of force majeure at El Sharara

Libya's state-owned NOC declared force majeure restrictions at its 300,000 b/d El Sharara field on Monday after it was shut down by protesters, adding to outages at El Feel and at smaller fields that contribute to exports from the Zueitina terminal.

Access to El Sharara was closed on Sunday night, but production was still online at the time, according to one Libya-based source.

Demonstrators first yesterday closed off the El Feel field in western Libya, which typically produces near 70,000 b/d and whose output is commingled with Wafa condensate into the Mellitah blend crude grade that is exported from the Mellitah terminal. State-owned NOC applied force majeure restrictions on field supplies at the time.

Protests also took place at the eastern Zueitina terminal, resulting in gradual output declines at the Abu al-Tilf, Intisar, Nakhla and Nafoora fields. NOC has today declared force majeure on both the terminal and the relevant fields. The Zueitina closure caused outages at the Abu Atfal gas plant, at the Zueitina Oil Company's injection plant in the 103D field and at the gas plant at the Zueitina port, according to NOC.

Combined outages at El Sharara and El Feel, along with the shutdowns at minor fields, imperil nearly 40pc of Libyan production, which was assessed by Argus at near 1.06mn b/d in March.

A group has also threatened the closure of the eastern Marsa el-Hariga terminal, although a shipping report indicated terminal loadings were uninterrupted as of this morning.

Some of the demonstrators are protesting against the Government of National Unity (GNU) administration of interim prime minister Abdelhamid Dbeibeh, who has been resisting calls to surrender control of Tripoli to the Government of National Stability (GNS) regime of his rival Fathi Bashagha. The GNU and GNS have been contending for Libya's leadership since February, when the north African country's eastern parliament body, the House of Representatives, elected Bashagha as transitional premier and Dbeibeh's successor. Dbeibeh insists that he retains his mandate until Libya carries out its postponed national elections, pencilled in for June.

The GNU ministry of Oil and Gas yesterday condemned the oil closures, citing lost revenues amid high global oil prices, reputational damage to NOC, as well as potential impairment to energy infrastructure.

Threats against Libyan infrastructure are frequent, but more swiftly resolved when they are driven by economic or civil concerns rather than political motivations.

By Ruxandra Iordache and Bachar Halabi