{"id":1363073,"date":"2022-03-07T17:08:43","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T22:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1363073"},"modified":"2022-03-07T17:08:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T22:08:46","slug":"libya-militia-blocks-key-oil-fields-production-drops-330k-barrels-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/libya-militia-blocks-key-oil-fields-production-drops-330k-barrels-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Libya: Militia Blocks Key Oil Fields, Production Drops 330K Barrels\/Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flibya-militia-blocks-key-oil-fields-production-drops-330k-barrels-day%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1363073&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1237830702-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\"><span>Libya\u2019s state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Monday that militia fighters shut down the Sharara oil field, the largest in the country, plus another vital oil field at el-Feel. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The attacks reduced Libya\u2019s oil production by at least 330,000 barrels per day, an unwelcome development at a time when Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine is generating worldwide anxiety about oil supplies.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>The Sharara field was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2022\/3\/3\/libyas-biggest-oil-field-halts-producing-as-crisis-deepens\"><span>shut down<\/span><\/a><span> on Thursday after gunmen closed one of its main valves. A similar action was launched against el-Feel shortly afterward. On Sunday, the NOC invoked force majeure to cancel contracts for oil from the two occupied facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Libya is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and holds Africa\u2019s largest oil reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>NOC chief Mustafa Sanallah demanded legal action against the \u201cplanners, executors, and beneficiaries\u201d of the shutdown, including punitive actions that would serve as \u201cdeterrent measures\u201d against future attacks. Another oil official in Tripoli told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/6472625.html\"><span>Reuters<\/span><\/a><span> that local tribal leaders are negotiating with the militia to let production resume at the oil fields.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Libyan officials seemed reluctant to clearly identify the \u201cgang\u201d behind the attacks, but their comments suggest it is the ironically-named <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thearabweekly.com\/gunmen-shut-four-libya-oil-fields-big-blow-production\"><span>Petroleum Facilities Guard<\/span><\/a><span> (PFG), or possibly one of its splinter groups.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The PFG is a paramilitary force <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/originals\/2016\/07\/libya-oil-deal-militias-exports-gna-tripoli-misrata.html\"><span>aligned<\/span><\/a><span> with eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar. The PFG seized control of Sharara and other oil fields on several previous occasions, most recently in December 2021. The PFG usually makes demands for money or other concessions to its troops, who are theoretically employed as security for the same oil fields they keep seizing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The militia shut down Sharara and three other fields in December after salary payments were delayed to its personnel, for example, and then <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/middle-east\/libyan-guards-shut-4-oil-fields\/2452872\"><span>demanded<\/span><\/a><span> additional concessions such as the construction of a new road from its mountain headquarters city of Zintan to the Tripoli area. The official who spoke to Reuters indicated the group that shut down Sharara and el-Feel over the weekend was based out of Zintan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The PFG <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.libyaobserver.ly\/news\/pfg-decries-closure-crude-valve-feeding-main-port\"><span>released<\/span><\/a><span> a statement on Monday claiming an \u201coutlaw\u201d group was behind the oil production shutdowns. The statement expressed confusion at why these outlaws would cripple Libya\u2019s oil production amid the industry chaos caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and insisted it has no current grievances with the NOC, because \u201cthe salaries of January were disbursed to all employees without delay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The NOC on Monday <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/node\/2037646\/middle-east\"><span>identified<\/span><\/a><span> the leader of the armed group as Mohamed Bashir al-Garg, a commander of forces normally charged with guarding oil facilities. Al-Garg reportedly said he took action because of the \u201cdire living conditions\u201d his people have been subjected to.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>The NOC shut down six of Libya\u2019s oil terminals for part of the weekend due to bad weather, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/libya-oil-output-drops-opec-081722375.html\"><span>angering<\/span><\/a><span> Energy Minister Mohammed Oun, who frequently clashes with NOC leadership. Oun said the port shutdowns were unnecessary and a \u201cviolation of national security.\u201d He reportedly told Bloomberg that Libya\u2019s oil production dropped approximately 25 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One of the six terminals, the port of Zueitina, has been the scene of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/libya-oil-ports\/eastern-libyan-protesters-entered-zueitina-oil-port-and-announced-its-closure-port-engineer-idINL8N29M4OX\"><span>tribal protests<\/span><\/a><span> for several months. The protesters managed to shut the port down in January, ostensibly because they were enraged by the Tripoli government using oil revenues to hire foreign fighters. Tuareg tribesmen <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.argusmedia.com\/en\/news\/2308936-output-halted-at-libyas-el-sharara-el-feel-oil-fields\"><span>threatened<\/span><\/a><span> to shut the Shahara field down last week by blocking the roads leading to it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The United Nations and United States on Monday called for all blockades on Libya to be lifted. Stephanie Williams, special Libya adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SASGonLibya\/status\/1500739659844001793\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> \u201cfreedom of movement around the country is a basic right\u201d and \u201cblocking oil production deprives all Libyans from their major source of revenue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>U.S. Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrons.com\/news\/un-and-us-urge-end-to-libya-oil-blockade-01646661007?tesla=y\"><span>called<\/span><\/a><span> for the oil blockade to be \u201clifted immediately.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Libya is dealing with a national political crisis that could be greatly exacerbated by instability in oil production. The eastern-based \u201cHouse of Representatives\u201d (HoR) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/2\/13\/forces-rally-in-libyan-capital-in-support-of-interim-pm-dbeibah\"><span>installed<\/span><\/a><span> a new interim government on Thursday, including a new prime minister, but current Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah refuses to relinquish power until elections are held. Dbeibah\u2019s supporters regard the HoR\u2019s actions as a coup attempt. Armed forces are assembling across the country, possibly laying the groundwork for a new civil war.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Libya\u2019s state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Monday that militia fighters shut down the Sharara oil field, the largest in the country, plus another vital oil field at el-Feel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1363073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1363073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1363073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1363073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1363073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}